Extinction isn't always forever
by Moonlightdeer
Summary: Patience is a virtue Aurora knows well, along with how to lead her family through the harshest of times, all whilst learning what she is, her only guide being her own wit and a being of shadows, as she struggles through the living world to protect her family from harm, all while awaiting the day she can reunite all those separated by the great war and bring back her own fallen kind
1. Introduction

**Okay, this is one of the main reasons I haven't been updating most of my stories, over a year ago I wrote the original for this, however, after I began publishing it I realised how bad it was, so now, I've rewritten basically everything, only a few tiny things are left similar and even then they're only minor. It has basically stolen all of my writing energy, only a few other stories are getting attention, and even then it's only a small amount.**

 **Anyway, anything you haven't seen in the show or franchise is mine, so my Oc's and the Titan's themselves, well, nothing else to say other than this is a kind of introduction chapter, as in, most of this story will occur in present time. Now then, on with the chapter, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 1

Optimus Prime released a small vent as he looked down at his adoptive creation, the little bundle of blues chirping and nipping at the servo he had offered her. This was one of the few times he could see her, she was for the most part being kept safe inside of this bunker for her own protection, the adopted creation of the Prime was a great title, but also a curse.

Aurora for the most part seemed oblivious to the war, Alpha Trion gave her to him only a few vorns before the beginning of the war. She was such a tiny thing, barely the size of his servo. Her egg had been even smaller, she was growing but at an alarmingly slow rate. Three vorns to him was one to her, Alpha Trion had told him it was recorded that was simply the life span they lived.

That is from what the fossils told them.

Those colossal structures once considered formations of the land on distant and barely explored planets, now seen as the petrified remains of a colossal universe wide extinction, of likely one of the oldest and certainly the largest species ever known.

No one knew why her kind, the Titans as they were called, died out, trillions of years before Primus even created their own race. Some blamed a lack of food source, others disease, some being that Primus had grown weary and had ended them to prevent the universe from being destroyed.

So it had come as the greatest shock when a petrified egg had been found, with a living foetus inside. That egg having hatched, in Orion Pax's servos after being given to him to be held whilst they'd been cleaning the cabinet the egg was being kept in for its own safety. Seventy nine vorns after its discovery under a petrified female Titan, the colours of the adult Titan where unknown, but the missing front left limb and countless massive chunks taken out of it suggested it was killed in a brutal battle for survival, and that egg was its spawn.

The egg had previously refused to hatch; no method could get the creature to emerge. And yet, simply holding the tiny egg, the ZNA proving its species, caused the hatching of the rarest species in the universe. The last living Titan.

It was for that reason that he had taken her in, a fake egg taking her place so none would know what had happened. The risk of her being poached and killed as a hatchling too great a risk.

And so as the little femme now played with his servo, Optimus was forced to think of the future of the little femme, not only her but the possibility of continuing the ancient species.

"Chirp?" He looked down at the tiny thing, all four paws on the ground, her long neck and streamlined helm tilted just slightly to the left, large crystal blue liquid orbs staring into his mechanical ones. Her tiny wings fluttered slightly, the little Titan fluttering them out and stretching, she was not far away from learning how to fly,

At least he hoped, no one really knew how to raise them, Ratchet, one of the few others who knew of her existence, had told them that upon scanning her internals found instead of tanks, she had a furnace like organ, burning hotter than even the sun their war torn planet orbited. Anything, metal, Energon, coolant. All of it could be used for fuel.

He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but the thoughts playing his processor made it look forced.

Then she did something he had never seen her do before, stretching her long, flexible neck out towards him, the electric blue feathers which ran down her neck, between her wings and to the end of her tail where a small cluster of spikes laid, began to ruffle, creating an almost chiming like sound, one that reached his audios and actually began to soothe the high levels of stress being a Prime came with.

 **"** **What's wrong Opimus?"**

He jumped at the soft sweet voice which had filled his helm, the voice rang slightly and seemed to be filled with childhood innocence. Then his optics locked onto the tiny thread of light connecting himself and the tiny ball of blues in front of him.

"Aurora?" She'd never done this before, and for all intents and purposes was far too young it seemed for speech.

 **"** **The war's getting worse isn't it?"** She asked, making the Prime real back, how did she know?

She seemed to hear the unspoken question.

 **"** **I have good hearing, I can hear it all, the gunshots, the screams of pain and agony, along with the battle cries which turn into death gurgles. It's not fun to listen to, to all the death."** Her voice was laden with an almost spiritual wisdom, almost sounding numb to the sounds she spoke of.

Optimus frowned at the new revelation, Aurora, having noticed whimpered, the light linking them beginning to flicker slightly.

 **"** **Please don't be mad Opi, I get scared when you're gone and those sounds start up again. I don't like it here Opi. Not at all."** She shook her head, the cluster of small silver horns behind her small helm flicking and clacking together as she did so, compared to the rest of her frame, her head was very small, resembling something along the lines of a neon snake, yet more pointed than their triangular helms, the was also a small curve in her skull meaning it looked like her olfactory sensors where more pointed, making her look to him, incredibly cute for a little reptile.

Optimus' faceplates melded into a soft smile as he carefully picked her off the ground and to his chassis, his spark purred quietly as she nuzzled into the warm metal.

Then just like that, the light link shattered, tiny crystals of light falling to the ground and disappearing.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this little one. I will fix this, I promise." She nodded her helm minutely, rubbing up against him and purring happily.

They were able to stay like that only for a small amount of time before the mech received an urgent com-link from the front lines.

 _"_ _Prime! Cons are attacking the Praxus Autobot HQ! They're massacring them!"_ His helm snapped up, then it plummeted back down to the now recharging form he held, it was only a matter of time until she was discovered.

He carefully rose, so not to jostle the tiny thing, he carefully let her down onto the padded berth, one large enough to hold her frame until she grew to a size she would not be able to fit within the base. Alpha Trion had alerted him to the fact that Titan's seemed to have sudden and massive bursts of growth from seemingly nowhere. And the little one was due within the next two orns for her first major growth spurt, how big she would get was unclear to them.

But one day she would be the size of a starship and not even be fully grown still.

He quickly proceeded to leave the bunker, then the base where he transformed into his vehicle and speed towards Praxus. Praying he wasn't too late.

* * *

Four cycles later

Aurora whimpered as the sound of explosions came closer, her Opi hadn't come back since she spoke to him, the psyche link having drained her after she'd used it for the first time.

Did she put him off?

"Now hatchling, you are safe." The old bot who came and visited now and then said, she just gave a weak warble, hiding her helm under her paws.

Alpha Trion sighed, he was getting too old for looking after scared sparkling's, or hatchling in this case. So he took in her small form again.

For the most part she looked like a Predacon, only organic, the wings where under developed, almost ready for flight but not yet, most of her body was a light crystal blue, her paws and the vertebrate holding up her wings being a more electric blue, her feathers where the a mix of both, the medium between the two main colours.

She walked on all fours, her neck and tail making up a large portion of her body length. It was amazing really, a living Titan, a chance to see what the ancient species could do. But after consideration they had decided to keep her hatching a secret, something the ancient mech was very glad for.

But now it put them in a dangerous position. If the Decepticons discovered that a Titan hatchling existed, they would not hesitate to converge and destroy all to get their clawed servos on her, they wouldn't hesitate in destroying her very mind and turning her into the ultimate weapon.

And if that were to happen, the war was as good as lost for the Autobots. For it seemed only a Titan or God had the power to destroy another Titan. Something which unless a new egg was found, would be impossible.

It was why he had been speaking to Optimus about the possibilities of getting her off world. Shooting her into space without any set co-ordinates, that way no one could track her, even themselves. But that would mean, the likelihood of ever seeing the hatchling Titan again would be as tiny as finding a sliver of Dark Energon.

It was the very reason he was here now, keeping an optic on the small one. Decepticons were moving in on the area and any type of evacuation would expose her. The bunker had been created under the Crystal city base. Hidden away. But now the base seemed to be the next target.

Optimus was as he sat there, with a heavy spark in both his and his mentors chassis' preparing the escape pod which would send Aurora to the stars.

This was most likely the last time he would ever see the hatchling Titan again.

So with all the care his old and creaky joints allowed, he carefully picked up the tiny thing and held her to his chassis, letting the warmth of his spark soothe her.

 **"** **I have to leave don't I?"** His helm snapped up, Optimus had informed him of the Psychic link she could apparently perform.

He couldn't lie to her. "Yes little one, it is for your own protection."

 **"** **And Opi can't come because he has too much of an important role."** The voice which said that was so full of sorrow, it pained the old mechs spark to no end, she was like his grand creation to him, so full of life, yet at the moment so completely lost in her own fears.

"I am afraid so young Aurora, but I assure you one day he will find you, and you will see your Opi again, he's the kind of determined mech which won't give up." He chuckled at that bit.

 **"** **Yup, Opi will find me. Love you too grand Opi."** His spark filled with love at that and he began carefully stroking the myriad of feathers which exploded out from just beneath her horns, causing the little bundle of scales to purr contently.

"And I you my little grand creation." It was at that point the Optimus entered, worry etched upon his faceplates along with a flood of sadness and remorse. The two mechs looked at one another for a moment.

"She knows what's about to happen." Alpha Trion stated, Optimus just nodded as he knelt down and took the little one out of the ancient's servos and into his sparkling hold, here at least she wouldn't be as easily detected and they would be able to transport her easier.

Without a word the two rose and walked out of the bunker, no longer needed and likely to never be needed again. Their destination was the launch deck within the Iacon hall of records.

* * *

Launch Deck

Aurora hoped into the pod without a sound, her spiky tail tapping the outer rim of the oval shaped pod, she looked up to her sire, both knew this might as well be the last time they ever saw one another.

Aurora knew it was wrong, something instinctual telling her to scream, kick, resist being separated, but she knew, deep in her own pulsating furnace that if she stayed, more harm than good would be done, and she could only hope that one day they could reunite.

"Aurora." She looked back up to him, her helm having fallen as her thoughts carried on. "I want to give you something." He pulled out a small crystal from his subspace, it was a brilliant mix of white, red and blue, wrapped around it being a cluster of twisting blue strands, weaving their way around the crystal to hold it, the crystal was then attached to a chain of circular blue plates which interlocked so they could move around one another.

He carefully wrapped it around her neck, the chain and crystal clunking the ground with the length of the crystal. Optimus gave an almost impossible to notice wince as the crystal did, but the ancient noticed and looked at the Prime with a healthy dosing of shock and understanding mixed together.

Aurora just rolled her long neck forwards to be able to see it better, inadvertently only being able to look at it upside down, frowning she began tilting her neck in other directions, trying her hardest to see the crystal, finally after coiling her neck to the left so she was facing in the opposite direction to the rest of her small frame, she was able to get a good look at it, seeing as her optics rested on either side of her helm it was harder than for most for her to look forward, often having to tilt her helm in a different direction so as to look at something helm on.

She gave a happy chirp when she looked back up at them, nuzzling lovingly the servo her Opi offered her.

Then she unlocked her jaws, and bit him.

Optimus gave a small grunt as the blade like dentas took the tip of his smallest digit off, thankfully only taking a bit of the armour which she now held, clenched between her front hatchling fangs.

She placed it down on the royal blue padded bottom of the pod and looked up at her sire.

 **"** **Bye Opi, see you soon."** With that her tail whipped out and hit the large red button which launched the pod.

He didn't even have time to say good bye before she was jettisoning away towards the stars, already knocked into stasis in the specialised pod.

"See you soon too then my hatchling." Optimus muttered, rubbing the place where she'd taken the tip off his digit. Her own little way of making sure she never forgot him, and for him to end up getting a replacement from Ratchet.

That was going to be interesting to explain.

"Well, we learnt a new thing from her it seemed every cycle… Titans really were a strange bunch." Alpha Trion chuckled as he turned to the current Prime. "Optimus, that piece of your spark was a genius idea by the way. You'll find her, that necklace proves it." The ancient stated, placing his old servo upon the younger mechs servo. "Besides, she knew what was going on, she understands this needed to happen, and there is no way in my processor that she is going to have any ill will against you my friend." The ancient reassured knowing within his spark that the Prime would never of pressed the button, she'd known that and done it herself.

"I know old friend, I know."

* * *

 **Well that's the first chapter done, updates will likely be once every few weeks because the chapters are already becoming quiet long to write. Well, that's all for now, see you soon!**

 **Moon**


	2. Exploration of a whole new world

**Hello all again, okay second chapter up and I realised I forgot to alert you to the fact that the CliffCee in this isn't the only relationship, it's just as all know, you can only show four characters. But that doesn't mean I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. Anyone you haven't seen in the series belongs to me. Have fun!**

* * *

Chapter 2

New Zealand 2,218 BC

The Moa gave a pained squawk as the eagles claws dug into its back, both too busy in their struggle to notice the ape like creatures ready and waiting to strike and steal whichever one fell. Preferably the Moa, as it was bigger.

None of them expected the earth shaking 'boom' which rung in their ears, even the fighting animals, the eagle's claws still embedded within the Moa's thick hide, looked up to see the flaming ball heading towards them.

The Moa gave a surprised and terrified cry before bolting, the eagle getting thrown from its back in the process of its escape, the massive Predatory bird hitting a branch with a sickening crack on the way down.

The ape like creatures scattered, running for deeper cover, just as the flaming object hit the ground, sending up an explosion of dirt and debris, along with a few trees being tossed high above the canopy.

Finally the object came to a stop, the outer shell hot but slowly cooling from its fiery orange.

Then came the booming sound once again, but this time it seemed to echo and originate from within.

Suddenly one of the sides bent outwards, an inside force pressing hard against it in its struggle to escape, the ape like creatures, drew closer, the curious edge they had being their weakness, their need to know predator from prey.

With a muffled roar the side exploded outwards and a blue blur came tumbling out, wings and legs getting tangled and a tail getting stuck in the mouth.

Finally the bundle crashed into a tree strong enough to resist it, slowing it down and allowing the mass to regain its bearings.

Within moments Aurora was on her paws and looking around the area, the whole place was nothing like Cybertron, that was a given, it was actually organic, like her!

Excitement bubbled up inside her as she began to run all over the place, looking for every cool and exciting thing she could find. Call her crazy but she'd only ever seen metal before!

She would've continued like that had she not noticed the bundle of feathers lying on the ground. Confused the Titan hatchling scurried over to the much smaller mass.

It had wings, but they were made out of feathers like the ones on her back, not the stretchy membrane she had on her own wings, its mouth didn't have any teeth like she did, it looked more like a curved blade, it's whole body was covered in feathers in fact, even a bunch on its aft like how she had a tail, and finally a set of large and quite intimidating claws, a bit like hers but she had four claws facing forward and one smaller one facing back which she used to grip things, not three facing forward and only one facing back like this creature.

She gave a confused chirp as she nudged the animal, causing it to stir and look straight into her almost glowing alien crystal blue eyes.

With a panicked cry it tried to get away, only for its wing to crumble. Aurora noticed this, it was clearly hurt.

So with movements even faster than that of the eagle, she snatched it up carefully in her jaws and placed it onto the mass of feathers on her back, it would be comfortable there and she could use her wings to keep it there. The animal of course protested but a quick growl got it silent. She just wanted to help, something the eagle just couldn't understand.

The ape like creatures however were becoming more and more curious.

Aurora's horns perked up, the array of sensors inside picking up the sounds, breathing, heart beats, not like sparks which are constantly beating in one tone, these, beat in two. The sound of crinkling undergrowth and shifting dried organic matter making her turn.

And come eye to eye with a being which walked almost exactly the same as those on Cybertron.

She looked down at them, noticing how they only came up to her shoulders, she was certainly bigger than them at least. They were covered in dry organic materials, and their helms! The tufts of fibres looked like they'd been given electric shocks!

Aurora giggled at the concept, however she frowned when the one in front of her, poked her with the tip of the primitive weapon it was holding, it tickled a bit but that was pretty much it.

So lifting up a paw she poked it back, surprised when it gave a pained cry and red stuff started dribbling out of the small hole.

The others seemed to be spurred by that, yelling in some strange language and flailing there limbs, she couldn't help but find it hilarious, so she spread her own wings, they may not of been ready to fly but already they had the massive length necessary to give her flight, in fact they were designed in such a way that when spread they reached far beyond the rest of her body, her wing span was actually greater than her length from helm to tail tip.

The creatures seemed to become scared, but Aurora was having too much fun, rearing back, she spread her wings as far as they would go and roared at them.

Only for a blast of blue flickering heat to spew out and make mini versions of itself on a cluster of twigs.

Taken back by the whole event, Aurora didn't even notice the creatures running away, too busy looking at the flickering warm mass which had come from her, it was warm and bright. Something she found quite interesting.

Getting bored of the mass she stomped on it, successfully putting it out. Aurora then turned to the pod, not sure what to do with it, it was her one link to Cybertron, she had to do something with it. Also it seemed a lot smaller now than when she hoped in. Growth spurt? Her grand sire often said she would get big in quick bursts.

So she walked over to it, and began pushing it with her helm, the pod was quite heavy and took a bit to get rolling, but once it was moving the young Titan found it quite easy to push the pod, she continued to push it without direction for some time, at least until the pod started to move away from her without her own force.

She watched bemused as it began picking up speed on the decline, launching into the air at times.

Before finally crashing into the clear blue liquid at the bottom, so doing what any young Titan would do when faced with the steep incline before her, she spread her wings and jumped, unaware of the watching ape like creatures who had been following her. The eagle was still there on her back, clinging onto her feathers like its life depended on it.

Her wings may not have been ready to fly but she could certainly glide, so with wide sweeping circles, Aurora descended to the bank of the still liquid, it was surrounded on all sides by cliffs and there was no way the pod was going to be of any use now, she knew that liquid and circuitry didn't mix, and the hole she'd rammed through the side had likely already filled the pods workings with the liquid, destroying them.

Aurora gave a shrug, it was a one flight only kind of device anyway, and probably a good thing it's down there. Least it explode or something.

But the liquid did look quite inviting.

But possibly not the liquid which held the possibly explosive device. There was likely more of the stuff elsewhere.

So without looking back she began to climb back up the steep incline, her powerful claws helping her, flapping her wings a bit for the extra lift to keep her going up.

By the time she made it back up to the top of the cliff the large ball of light in the sky was beginning to set and the temperature was clearly dropping with it.

Her acute eyes darted around the landscape, the slits of her eyes widening to take in what little light was becoming available as she trekked through the forest.

Finally she found an opening, it was cut into a large rock face and looked large enough to hold her. So without any other options she went inside, the opening, or really cave, was quite large in comparison to the entrance, which in itself was of significant size, the ceiling seemed to stretch on forever. It was eerily dark and more of the liquid dripped from spikes hanging from the ceiling.

And the ground was littered in bones.

Alarmed the young Titan took a step back, only for her back right foot to crush a skull which had been lying there.

The crushing sound was enough to do it as she bolted from the cave, warbling and chirping in fear the whole way, making a mental note to never go near that place again unless she had a death wish.

It took quite some time but she finally calmed enough to settle in a large clearing, but by this point the air was frigid cold and her body shook heavily from the freezing air on her scales.

It was then that she remembered the blue warm stuff she'd made, looking around the clearing she spotted a fallen organic life form, she'd deduced that they were alive and yet not, so what was wrong with using it as fuel?

She quickly gathered the necessary amount she deemed enough, putting it all together in a messy pile. She wasn't an interior designer but it would do, so going back to the time in which she produced the orange stuff she began to mimic herself, flapping her wings, rearing her helm back and… ignition.

The twigs burst into the blue blaze she'd been hoping for, filling the once dark and cold clearing with light and heat. Aurora purred contently as she settled down around the blaze, her tail and neck making a perfect circle around it as she grew tired, it had certainly been a long day.

The eagle raised her head to look at the one who had carried her, she was much larger than herself, bigger than any Moa she'd ever seen, this creature, it could do that weird thing with its mouth, scared her only competition, and likely most importantly didn't eat her when she was in the weakened state, anything else would eat her without hesitation. But this blue creature only wished to help.

* * *

Autobot base

"Prime, why do you look like you just got Megatron to switch sides?" Ironhide asked from over the table.

"Hmm?" Was Optimus' less than intelligent response.

"Well I mean, ever Praxus was last attacked, you've been distant, and now, well it's like a damn switch was flipped and your back to your old self!?" The weapons specialist explained,

Optimus snapped out of his revere then looking at his old friend in surprise. "I'm sorry Ironhide I was lost in thought, what did you say again?"

The black mechs optic twitched. "Oh you know, the same thing I've been trying to say for the last joor but you… and we've lost him again!" He exclaimed, waving in the Primes direction to all the others who had been listening.

A chuckle came from the entrance way to the rec room, where the ancient Alpha Trion stood. "His creation did just come out of forced stasis on the other side of the universe on a primitive planet, without any major threats to her life and away from Megatrons clutches, I too am quite glad my adopted grand creation is once again in the land of the living." He stated as he strode into the room and sat beside the current Prime, who was once again lost to them.

"Wait! Prime had a sparkling!? Why the frag weren't we told!?" Ironhide exclaimed, seemingly in a frenzy at the revelation. Only for Ratchet to swat him over the helm with a wrench. "What?!"

"Aurora is not Optimus' biological creation. He took her in only a few vorns before the war broke out, she was kept a secret for her own protection. I was only made aware a vorn later when these two decided she might need at some point medical help." Ratchet huffed, in no way pleased at the sudden shocked expressions all around.

"Do you remember the Titan egg which was found with a still living embryo inside a few deca vorns back?" Alpha Trion asked, hoping it might clue them in.

"Yeah, that was massive news mech, anybody who had a working processor knew about that." Jazz stated, sitting down in one of the other chairs. "Why?"

"Because it hatched." There was an instant uproar throughout the rec room, all those inside wanting to know more. "And she is currently resting in a clearing on a planet on the other side of the universe. Aurora that is."

All the bots froze as the pieces clicked into place, and almost as if moving in unison they turned to the day dreaming Prime.

"No fragging way." Sideswipe muttered, looking to his twin brother who had for once a similar expression.

"Prime?" Ironhide asked.

"Hmm?"

"When you get out of that daze we are going to have a long talk about telling us when the only living Titan hatches." He looked to the ancient. "What's she look like?" He asked the question on all their processors, the ancient gave a smug grin as he pulled out a data pad and activated it, revealing to all the moment she bit Optimus' digit tip off.

Thus snapping the Prime out of his daze by the raucous laughter which seemed to shake the ground afterwards. "ALPHA TRION!" The red and blue mech exclaimed.

"What? They wanted to know and that was the most up to date picture we have of her."

"I give up."

"What Megatron wouldn't give to hear that mech! Pit probably his own helm on a spit!"

"Shut up Jazz."

"Shutting up Prime."

* * *

 **And there we go! Hoped you had fun, also chapters will be coming out slowly due to the fact that I'll only post a chapter when I finished the next, makes it easier to put in easter eggs =p. Now until next time, anyone?**

 **Silence...**

 **Right, Aurora's sleeping and everyone else isn't here yet. Little eagle?**

 **Raised feather ridge...**

 **Oh come on! Never mind, not like we would've understood her, well with that having failed, see you all next... watch the tail!... Jeez, note to self, don't stand near a Titan Hatchling's tail when they're asleep, they apparently have little control over it.**


	3. A new friend and new discovery

**Next chapter, oka, not much to say other than that Aurora and any other character you see here but nowhere else are my as well, but that's kind of obvious so, on with the chapter and I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 3

The eagle was first to wake the next morning, her wing was still protesting heavily if moved, so she opted to stay for a bit, the creature hadn't eaten her, but protected her, she'd of been something else's meal before she could get up if it hadn't been for the strange creature. The eagle looked at her, she knew it was a 'her', somehow she just knew. Its side was heaving with long breaths, something her own chicks would do when sleeping, at least what her chicks would do. The eagle let out a small sad sigh, her mate, he'd been killed by those two legged creatures, she'd been unable to feed them all without him, and none of them had survived long out of her three chicks.

This creature, she was, not of this land. Far beyond it in fact. The smells which radiated off her where toxic, and yet faded so it wasn't so bad, the eagle could handle it. But everything else seemed to be repelled, it actually made her wonder where this creature was from, she'd come from the sky, but she knew as well that it wasn't the sky, but further. It boggled her small mind to no end.

But one thing was for certain, this was a baby, and she kept her safe. She was safe and the creature was safe, she hoped.

She had been moved at some point in the night, now held carefully to the creatures warm chest, heat radiated from it, like the sun itself was burning inside, and yet she wasn't burned, no, it was actually soothing, her damaged wing was on the side untouched by the creatures warm darker blue underbelly, and yet, it felt like a kind of energy was slowly flowing into her.

So she lay there, for some time in fact, creatures would walk into the clearing, see the slumbering creature and bolt, it was actually making her feel quite smug.

Finally the creature stirred, its mouth opening wide to reveal the massive teeth which lined the inner cavity, and the eagle felt a sliver of fear and doubt fill her, this creature could easily kill her, one swipe and she'd be dead.

Instead, the creature shook her neck, the mass of feathers which ran all the way along her body to her tail flying everywhere, the head would move one way, and the end of the neck and beginning of the body where still going the other way with equal force like if one where to grab a snake by the head and shake it whilst in mid-air.

Then she looked to her, she began to coo and click at the eagle, a tongue she knew nothing of, so she could only respond with her own.

The blue creature seemed to notice this, and slowly, it seemed with the utmost care, the blue creature rose, it's long, lithe and powerfully strong and fast legs lifting her high off the ground, if she were to reach her neck up, it would breach the surface of the surrounding trees, it was clear that when this creature would become fully grown, nothing would be able to stand up against her.

She turned to the still lying eagle, whose crooked wing was held close to her side.

The blue creature gave a questioning chirp, likely asking if it hurt or something. So taking a guess, the eagle nodded.

Thus sending the creature into a panic, one moment it was on one side of the clearing, the next it was on the other, wide eyed and panicking as it grabbed whole trees with her jaw, uprooting them and tossing the heavy masses far over the tree cover.

And now the eagle was wondering what exactly that question had been.

* * *

Aurora's POV

She was dying! She said so herself! My mind was racing, I had to help her! I was running all over the place, looking for anything that could help, but nothing, I knew absolutely nothing about this world, what was safe, and what wasn't! I was taking a risk just biting and uprooting those things! For all I knew they could lash out and kill me!

My helm snapped to the tiny creature, I really had grown whilst in stasis. Before I would've been just a bit bigger than her! Now, if I went up on my back claws only, my neck would be over the line of whatever this organic stuff was!

I was about to have a full blown panic attack when a soothing warmth filled me, okay, that's a little weird.

Looking down I saw the necklace that my Opi had given me, it was glowing slightly, right next to the tip of Opi's digit, still can't believe I actually bit that off!

Oh well, something to remember him by.

Back on task! We got a dying thingy here!

The thingy let out a loud chirp, startled I looked back at it, was that a disbelieving look or do I really have no understanding of even facial patterns here?

I settled and looked at it closer, no sign of pain, maybe, maybe if I connect with it, it can tell me what's wrong?

Acting on that I moved closer, laying down in front of it with my helm not too far away from the smaller being, then, before it could get spooked, I allowed the energy link to form between us.

 **"** **Are you dying?"** I asked, making the thingy, which I had found out was a she like me, jump in surprise.

 **"** **What is this?!"** She was older than me, her voice sounded like those of femmes I would sometimes hear back in my old home.

 **"** **My energy, link, I can use it to talk to things, seeing as I can't speak properly yet, I'm only three vorns old after all… one vorn old mentally though..."** I would've continued, but then something I'd never seen before happened, the energy link began pulsating, growing and shifting then an extremely bright white light, replacing the previous calm blue.

The white flooded into her, she screamed in panic, before I could shatter the link though, her body exploded, the white light blasting outwards and the force knocking me away from her.

My helm was rattling for a few moments before I was able to shake myself back to full control, when I looked back towards her, I expected charred remains, what was there, was not the charred remains of her body.

There, standing with both wings tucked to her sides, was a Cybertronian bird, the same species as before, but metal, and bigger, almost as big as me.

She looked at me, then herself, then me again. "What did you do?!" She asked in shock, I was left speechless for a moment, I could understand her, without the link.

"I, I don't know, I've only used me link to speak to Cybertronians before, I never thought it would turn you into one." I tried to explain in my own hatchling language, I was shaken by the whole thing, it'd never done something like this before.

She seemed to understand, walking over and spreading the wing that had been hurt, I flinched back, but then I felt soft metal feathers hook under my lower jaw, forcing me to look at her.

"Do not fear me young one, you kept me safe from predators whilst I was injured, and now you have unintentionally made me likely immune to all predators and prey. Those are two good deeds, and no bad ones. Now, what should I call you? My name is Harp, I assume you have one too?" She asked whilst I nodded, she wasn't mad, I felt myself relax.

"My designation is Aurora. It's nice to meet you Harp." Harp nodded at me, spreading her wings wide, breaching both sides of the now enlarged clearing, enlarged because a lot of those organic things with the green stuff on top had been tossed away by the shock wave.

"Well then Aurora, seeing as you are a young creature, unknown to this world, I will help you, teach you how to live, fight and survive in this world. And most importantly, teach you the power of flight." Harp stated in a commanding tone, I nodded, she was willing to teach me, and I was willing to accept.

"When do we begin?" I asked, Harp chuckled.

"Now."

Four weeks later 3rd POV

Aurora stood at the highest point in the area she had been calling her home along with Harp, said Cybertronian Eagle stood beside her, her now bright blue feathers, matching those of Aurora's own scales, her crest was, like Aurora's a much deeper royal blue, once brown now shining gold optics turned to the larger and younger of the two.

"Do not try and stay in the air for long if your wings begin to strain, if not, we fly, our wings will take us as far as we have the energy for, I have deemed your wings worthy, do not die on your first flight. I trust however, with the care you take, that will not be necessary, for one so young Aurora, you are extremely intelligent. Now are you ready?" Harp asked, spreading her wings out towards both horizons, they had quickly become strong friends, Aurora and Harp, Aurora telling the eagle of her life on Cybertron, the war, her Opi having to evacuate her, Harp had listened to it all, promising to keep the young one safe until the tables where reversed and it was Aurora who would protect Harp, seeing as the young Titan had told her about the fact she was the last, a being out of time and with no knowledge of what would happen as she grew.

And it scared the Titan, she didn't know what would come next, what smack to the faceplates she would receive from the Universe, her Opi barely knew anything about her kind, none of them did, only that they were all meant to be extinct, her kind could grow to colossal sizes, and they were strong, too strong, she was the exception, she was online, and it terrified her.

Aurora nodded to Harp, these past twenty eight rises of the ball of light, she'd been working hard on her wings, gliding a few metres or further at every chance she got, and whenever the two would break to eat or sleep, she would always practice flapping her wings like Harp instructed, with hard work her wings had strengthened quickly, and Aurora was ready for her first flight, it had taken the two awhile to get up here, Harp preferring to stay beside Aurora seeing as her large size intimidated those around them, they'd spotted those two legged things watching them from the trees, Harp had told Aurora of them, they were smart, not as smart as they were but close, and they worked together, a dangerous thing indeed.

Aurora's horn array perked up, the sensitive tips picking up the pressure around her, a strong enough wind for gliding was coming, she would use it to get airborne, and if flight failed, she in theory should have enough power to glide down.

She quickly spread her own wings, the wind caught them, making the membrane rise slightly.

Then she looked to Harp. "Push?" Harp didn't even respond, choosing to just shove her young friend anyway, with the extra movement Aurora cleared the high rocky outcrop which they'd climbed to.

The wind caught her wings, and for the first time, instead of just letting them stay as still as possible, they flapped, sending the Titan hatchling just that bit higher.

Aurora warbled in elation, flapping her wings like Harp had taught her, she tilted her helm, trying to see Harp, the shift in flow over her body however caused her to dip heavily to the left, sending her form precariously close to the 'tree' cover below, thankfully she was able to stay above, just, her spiked tail clipping a few tips of the 'trees' as Harp had told her as the Titan hatchling gained more altitude.

"Opps." She muttered in her own tongue, glad someone could finally understand her, a small smile forming as she saw Harp flying just beside her, the smaller flyer having to fly just a little bit ahead to avoid the larger of the two's wingspan.

"Well done young one." That wasn't Harp, the voice rang in her helm, it was cold, yet comforting at the same time, and a sense of strange familiarity filled her. Aurora gave a panicked cry as she tried to turn to see where the voice had come from, it was female and it had sounded close.

A moment later she was falling, her wings not being able to catch enough air with the sudden movement.

Harp gave her own panicked cry as she saw her young friend fall. "Aurora!" The hatchling only gave a terrified scream, moments before plunging into a lake.

Harp was quick to land at the shore of the large body of water, the liquid was a murky brown and was well known by animals to be toxic, the chemicals which leaked into it making it a lethal death trap.

The chances of the hatchling surviving were almost non-existent.

That is, until the water started to clear, the brown murk fading away to reveal the blue Titan standing at the bottom, her sides were visibly moving as plumes of clear water jetted out from black slits in the upper part of her neck, her mouth drawing in the murky black.

Harp could only watch on in shock, the Titan hatchling was filtering the toxic chemicals, how, she wasn't sure.

This continued for a few more minutes until the water was as clear as the air itself, with her task completed the Titan pushed off the bottom, her body shifting side to side like a waterborne snake as she swam back to the surface.

Her helm breeched first, soon followed by the rest of her form, the black slits on her neck closing up to the point you wouldn't know where there unless you'd seen them.

Harp's lower beak had long since hit the ground as Aurora looked over at her and shrugged. "I have no idea." She clarified, Harp could only nod dumbly. All she did now, was she was connected to it, it had actually felt pleading, wanting to be help, and the next thing she knew she was filtering it all the toxic substance being burnt away within her sun like furnace.

She looked back to the water, it had spoken to her, it was hers to control and use for whatever she wished, she could do so much with it. And she would use it like her sire would, with care, love and respect.

"Once again, well done, my niece." Both of them turned sharply to look at where the sound came from, a towering figure stood hidden in the shadows of a large cave only a small distance away from the lake.

The creature was massive, her front paw alone could easily crush Harp, Aurora got into a defensive stance in front of her friend. "Who are you!?" She demanded.

The creature chuckled, the helm moving out of the shadows, and revealing the Titanesque features. "I am Liara, Queen of the Shadows, and you young one, are my niece, the young lady of water. Unfortunately I cannot stay, remaining in the land of the living too long weakens me, I will try and visit again soon my niece, I will be watching over you from the underworld." Before she could respond, the Titan was gone, her form melting into the darkness as the sounds of shrieking moans reached them. "Do not worry, those are just the calls of the damned being punished." With that, she was gone, leaving Aurora and Harp to stand there in shock, not sure what had just happened.

* * *

Cybertron

Optimus stared at the door, the feelings he felt from his daughter, his processor was whirring, what he'd felt, he, he was shocked, that was the simplest way he could put it, but also flooding with pride, what she'd projected, such determination to be like him.

"Optimus?" Alpha Trion walked up to him, distracting him from what had happened next, not feeling what his daughter felt as the adult Titan appeared, the old mech had spotted the Prime there some time ago.

"She's growing up too fast, she'll be a fully grown femme before I'm likely to reunite with her." He said sombrely, shaking his helm slightly, the ancient smiled and placed a withered servo upon the highest part of the mechs shoulder he could reach.

"All creators feel that way, when you finally find her, remember to tell her I love her like my own grand creation Prime." The ancient stated.

The Prime turned to him. "How can you say that? That you will never see her again, so you can't tell her yourself!?" He asked deplorably.

The old mech just chuckled. "Let's just say I was blessed with a vision. Her aunt wanted to thank you for taking on the young one, and for doing the right thing, she wouldn't survived on a planet like ours for much longer, that planet, its perfect for her. Besides, apparently, she's not going to forget you, no matter how long it takes, she will always remember you, and me, she'll never forget anything, and she will follow what you taught her. Do not worry Prime, when I'm gone and you find her, she'll still be your hatchling inside."

Without waiting for the Prime to recover from his shocked state, the mech walked away, his creaking frame showing he truly would not last long enough to see his grand creation again. Something which burned the ancient's weary spark.

But he did call over his shoulder. "Oh, and when you find her, don't expect her to be alone, she'll of assembled a team by then, a team as strong and brave as the original thirteen Primes, your creation will be ready to defend her planet, and she will not hesitate to protect her home and family from Unicron himself. She will become one of the most powerful warriors ever known."

With that said, the mech was gone around a corner, leaving the Prime to slowly look down at his servo, the pointer digit still missing its tip, he didn't want it replaced, she'd done it, he wasn't going to forget her. Not ever.

And he _would_ find her, and he _would_ give her the ancient's message.

* * *

 **And there we have it, this chapter will be the last one with Aurora in the past, next chapter we'll be seeing what her life is like in present time, as a warning for that, it probably won't make a lot of sense, she's been on Earth for a long time and by this point, a lot of crazy stuff has happened to her.**

 **Well, until next time!**

 **Moon**


	4. Resurrection, and meeting the family

**Okay, much longer chapter, lots, and lots of words I've sifted through, a lot of times, the story is now in present time, beginning at the same time in which Starscream blew the mine, you'll see quickly that, details left out, can be exploited, and I intend to use as many as possible to further this story. Now then, on with the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 4

Present day

"NOO!" Arcee screamed as Cliffjumper's dissected upper half fell to the bottom of the cavern, the mech turned monster growling and hissing the whole way down.

The resurrected frame crashed to the bottom of the cavern, disappearing from the view of the cobalt blue femme.

She didn't see the two clawed blue servos form from the rocks themselves and grab hold of the two parts of the mech she loved, hints of green armour appearing around the bases of the servos, just as the two parts of the Autobot where dragged through the solid mass of the cavern floor like as if the ground wasn't there at all.

* * *

South Africa

The horns atop her helm twitched when the sound of her brother materialising reached her, the light and electric blue femme turned to the cliff her brother liked to use when it came to moving around as the mechs form began to appear.

Beside her stood an almost identical femme, the only differences being this one was a crimson red with deep forest green, a golden ring around her abdomen and a small necklace tied around the tip of her tail which ended with a lethal three pointed sickle like blade.

"Razor, what did you, oh ancients." The blue femme muttered as the larger mech appeared from the rocks like he was a part of the very cliff before the rocky surface faded away to reveal the forest green with cobalt blue strikes of her younger brother.

The mech was unlike the two femmes, not bearing the same massive bat like wings which came from their back struts, his own where adorned with two fan like doorwings, and the tips jagged and as sharp as the finest blade. Unlike his sisters he was built for strength and endurance whilst they were built for speed and power.

"Well that's just bloomin' perfect." The youngest of the group muttered angrily, only coming up to the two identical in frame femmes' hip plates, her demonic crimson red and black frame moving quickly over to the largest of their group and looking at the two parts of the bot, she gave it a quick sniff, having noticed the strange purple chemical, she gave a startled shriek and leapt back, powerful pedes sending her far over multiple trees in a single bound.

The blue femme looked to the red and green one. "Emily, get Sonic, he needs to know about this." She commanded, the red and green femme nodded, spreading her powerful wings in preparation to take flight up to the Cumulus Nimbus their brother had created over their home to block their home from view of the human's subterranean probes.

"Already here." His voice came before the mini tornado appeared in front of them, quickly reforming into the storm cloud grey and sky blue form of their aerial support, the mechs scythe held in a clawed servo beside him.

The youngest ran back to them now, snow white faceplates twisted in disgust. "It's dark Energon. Razor where the frag did you find him?!" She hissed, the large mass of golden horns which adorned her helm lowering in distaste.

Razor looked down at the two halves of the mechs frame, his faceplate solemn as he held the still thrashing halves of the former Autobot, exerting little to none of his total strength to restrain the thrashing creature. "It's one of the Autobots, Cliffjumper." Those last two words had a massive effect upon the leader of their team, the light and royal blue femme held back a chocked sob as she fingered the Autobots symbol upon the mechs chassis, what was left of it at least. Yes they knew the Autobots and Decepticons had arrived on their home planet a few years prior, it was why Razor monitored his territory so much now, but to see one of her sires men, offline, in her younger brother's arms, it shocked her.

And then, without any warning, she stabbed her clawed servo through the hole in the middle of the mechs chassis, the creature gave a pained howl as she pulled the pulsing purple crystal from within the mechs spark chamber, she looked upon it with the upmost disgust as the creature finally ceased its struggling which it had been throughout the time Razor had been holding it.

Then, she ate it, swallowing it quickly so it could be melted down and eviscerated within her furnace.

"The Decepticons have gone too far Aurora." The red and green femme designated Emily stated from beside Aurora who had taken on the former human in as her own sister many years ago

The smallest nodded. "I can't wait to throw them in a lava pit and watch them squirm." She hissed, maniacal glee shinning in her crystalline blue optics.

Aurora frowned down at her youngest sister. "Rya." The youngest femme winced at the tone. "We are not to torture a life, even if it is a Decepticon, which is not what sire would want. We may kill, but we do not torture, that would make us no better than the Decepticons themselves." Rya winced again at her older sisters scalding tone, their big sister was the one who gave them the second chance of life, she knew not to take it for granted but, growing up like she had, her mind couldn't help but be a little twisted, and after what had happened, all those years ago, she had very little sympathy for anything anymore, the fact her left optic no longer worked testified to that.

Aurora turned to Emily. "Get a fossil, a charger will do best, they need all the help they can get when the time comes, and losing one of their members will not help us in any way." Emily nodded, leaping up into the air, the green parts of her frame lighting up as thick thorny vines burst from her form and surrounded her in a tight ball before closing in on itself, then, when all her form was all but gone, a tiny seed fell from the mass, the moment it hit the ground the seed bloomed and formed a beautiful red and green rose.

Aurora turned to Razor. "Place him in the spring." Razor nodded and did as told, placing the now limp halves of the deceased Autobot into the pool of water which his older sister used when wanting to transport to the area.

Rya and Sonic watched the two with a critical optic. Sonic being the one to speak from where he knelt upon a large boulder which his older brother often used as a weight. "You do realise if we send him back they will find out about us." He stated, Aurora didn't even look at him as she nodded.

"Yes, I am aware of that brother, he will remain with us until it is time to reveal ourselves." She stated, Sonic groaned.

"And you're going to make him one of those creatures you used to protect the humans from, right before they turned on you and stole our sire's gift from you!" He declared, using the blade of his scythe to point at the place upon her chest which once bore the blue plates and brilliant white crystal. A human by the name of Kronos had stolen the priceless object from her whilst she was resting, but she had sworn never to harm a human or cause them grief at the time, her servos where tied even now due to the politics behind the case and she'd been forced to watch from a distance as the thing she held most dear was passed on and on, very rarely falling into the hands of one who did their people good, she'd asked at multiple times to have it returned, but each time they refused, claiming that such a jewel was too valuable to give over, and that unless she had proof she would not receive it, but she couldn't use that proof, as it would reveal too much.

Aurora nodded before lowering her own form into the clear as air water, Sonic looked to Rya as Emily returned, her form reappearing from the towering oak she had grown there as her own method of long distance transportation, within her clawed servo she held the lower jawbone of a beast Aurora had herself destroyed.

"Why not a fossil like ours? Why one of them?" Rya asked, looking at the bone with upmost distaste, Emily looked at the two with a raised optic ridge.

"Just because you came from fossils from this planet does not mean we can use the same trick again, your new bodies where metallic, that happened by Aurora's will to have those like the one that raised her, he is already one so would need a fossil from his own world." Emily stated firmly before dropping the bone into the spring, the object falling into the waiting servo of her sister.

Moments later the water within the spring exploded outwards with a bright white light, testimony to the fact that Aurora had begun the process, all four were forced to look away, not needing to be once again blinded temporarily like what happened when Emily was changed.

Soon enough the light faded and two forms burst from the water, one light and royal blue, the other red and silver.

Aurora was quick to step out of the spring, the water flying off her form to re-join the water still within the spring, all the while the red and silver one collapsed onto the small beach surrounding the spring.

"Primus, what hit me? Last thing I…remember." He muttered, lifting his helm only to cut short at the sight of the Cybertronians all around him, all of them with slit crystal blue optics shining back into his cerulean, well except for the red and green femme, she had emerald green optics with the slits themselves being crimson red, not good. It was then that he took their forms into more detail, two of them, identical in frame had large bat like wings, long the pointed scythe like blades at the tips of even longer snaking tails, clawed pedes and servos and probably the most worrying factor, they were huge, both of them where at least a helm over Optimus, femmes, taller than the Prime, he was so slagged.

His optics darted to the other three, his spark sinking at the sight of the _even larger_ green with blue jagged striped mech who looked to have the skull of some sort of ancient crocodile on his left shoulder whilst the thick tail which snaked behind him ended in a menacing spiked hammer, the hammer wasn't enough?! But the mech actually looked calm, none of his body language suggested he was off put by his own presence, unlike that of the smaller other two, another femme and mech, the femme looked put off, clenched servo on hip and an optic ridge raised as if to _try_ and get him to attack, something weird seeing as the femme looked to be still a youngling, fourteen vorns at the most, but like the rest of the five, she was easily almost two Arcee's tall. Not welcoming.

Finally the smaller mech, giant scythe and a scowl which could melt through Megatron's subzero spark where normally not welcoming features.

It looked for the most part like almost half the group would prefer to see his offline husk than a living frame lying on the ground looking at them in shock.

It was then that the light and royal blue femme stepped forward, bending down and offering him her larger servo, a welcoming smile on her snow white faceplates, at least most of it was white, large royal blue strikes decorated her faceplates, two of them forming directly under the optics he now found to be a mix of at least four different blues, but it was the two stripes underneath her optics which reminded him of his Prime, only these had a far greater volume and were easily spotted on the femmes faceplates.

"You look a bit like Prime." He muttered, her smile seemed to grow slightly as he took her servo and allowed her to pull him up.

It was then that he looked at himself, he almost fell backwards in shock when he saw his servo, claws, just like theirs, his armour was still red and silver, but it was sharper, like theirs, clawed pedes, he ran his glossa over his dentas, blade like, he felt something twitch behind him, a tail and a pair of fragging wings?! Someone was playing a horrible joke on him.

"Wha. What did you do to me?" He asked the one in front of him, her smile vanished.

"We brought you back." She stated, her voice was like velvet, soft and rich. But he had a femme waiting for him back at base.

"Yah mean you brought him back even though we didn't want you to." The red and black one snarled, she was clearly not pleased with anything which was happening at the moment.

"Rya! He is one of our sire's men! We had to help him, why do you think Razor even bothered to recover his body?" The blue femme exclaimed.

"Sire's men?" Cliffjumper muttered, the only mech she could've meant… slowly the pieces started to fit together.

The Titanesque features, similar facial features (however that happened), impressive size, and referring to Optimus as sire, at least he thought that was what he meant. Besides, the colours matched as well, the other four? He'd think about that later.

"You're the Prime's missing Titan hatchling!" Cliffjumper exclaimed as he pointed at Aurora, said femme jolted at the accusation and slowly turned to the mech again, optics wide.

"How did you know?" She whispered, her form becoming tense as even the gentle green and blue one fell into a position which screamed he was one wrong word from a fight.

"Prime told every bot he trusted about you after you were off planet, the colour, wings, tails, and optics! It's all like that cute little hatchling! And if what the old coot said about your aging being so slow… you are the Prime's hatchling!" The mech exclaimed happily. "Oh Primus! The mech's been searching every fragging inch of the planet looking for you! …Err, where are we?" He asked after he realised he really didn't know where he was, all he knew was he'd been turned into something similar to them and they were somewhere really hot.

Rya snorted. "That's for us to know and you with not a hope in hell of finding out." She hissed.

Only for Emily to swat her over the back of her horned helm with the flat edge of her scythe like tail. "Hey! Watch the horns!" Rya exclaimed, rubbing the aforementioned growths.

Emily just snorted. "Then be friendlier, Ancients when are you going to let go of that grudge?" The larger femme exclaimed.

Rya gave her own snort. "The day we leave this human infested planet forever and go to a planet without the stupid blighters!" Rya barked before dashing off into the brush.

Aurora, who'd been watching the whole scene unfold from beside Cliffjumper sighed. "I'm sorry you had to witness that, Rya lost all trust in humans a long time ago, it scares me sometimes how violent she can be, she doesn't like change, which is what I caused when I brought you back from oblivion." She explained cryptically.

Cliffjumper could only look at her in shook, her optics weren't full of the life he'd seen in the pictures he'd been shown off when she was a hatchling, her optics shone with knowledge, but also exhaustion, like seeing all he knew she had had drained her, sobering the being of joy which had left Cybertron.

He looked down at his own servos, his processor flashing back to Optimus, he could only imagine what he would have to go through when he found out about what had happened to her.

"Do you wish to see what you are?" Her question drew him out of his own thoughts as he looked up at her, he was surprised with how little he actually needed to crane his neck, it seemed like he'd actually grown around a helm in height in the process of his apparent resurrection.

He didn't answer, instead following after her as she walked away from the clearing in which the last three of the group still stood, it only took a while for his curiosity to get the better of himself as he caught up and began walking at her side, but only after he knew the others were out of sight.

"They can still see you first off, especially Emily, Razor and Sonic, but do not be disturbed, we have long since developed an understanding of one another's boundaries. Now, I am under the assumption you have some questions?" She asked him, catching him off guard heavily.

"Yeah, first off, where are we exactly?" He asked, still having to crane his neck up to look at her.

"Ah, I guess you do deserve to know, we are in a subterranean cavern which I discovered during what the humans call fondly 'The Ancient Greek', it is directly underneath the west coast of South Africa, under around twenty five kilometres of rock, resulting in the high heat levels as we are much closer to the Mantle here than on the surface." She explained.

Cliffjumper nodded his helm. "Okay, second question, who are they?" He asked, gesturing back towards the way they had come.

"My brothers and sisters, Emily is the oldest of my siblings in body, but the youngest of the group when lifespan is the measurement, Razor second oldest and Rya and Sonic are only around an age cycle apart apart, even though in maturity they are separate by around half of one age cycle, and Razor by another year older than them." Aurora answered simply, her optics weren't the only things to hold wisdom, her voice sounded ancient yet full of youth all at once, Cliffjumper once remembered reading a document a human had written, something which fit well with this femme, she was an old soul, having seen too much in her youth to not of been altered by it.

"How badly have the humans affected you?" He had to ask, he had to know, Optimus needed to know.

She paused in her tracks for a moment, her optics going distant, giving the mech time to study her features, a single royal/electric blue strike came from underneath the middle of either optic, which he'd already noticed, whilst three more sat on each side of her faceplates pointing towards the middle, the horns on her helm took over much of it, some twisting while others curled slightly, and all of them seemed to of been decorated with electric blue metal in the form of ribbons which wrapped around each one on a journey to the tip, right before the first horn an oval shaped gem sat, what kind of gem the mech couldn't be sure of, all he knew was that it had to be the largest one he'd ever seen, before he could go lower than the helm however, she answered.

"At first it wasn't too bad, I landed here when the humans where still highly primitive, I was more naïve in nature back then as well, Harp was able to keep me safe for the first few hundred years, teaching me how to fly, speak multiple animal languages, would you believe me if I told you I can even speak Mole?" She asked, Cliffjumper nodded his helm, from what he'd seen he couldn't exactly put a limit on what she and her little group could've possibly done. They'd just brought him back from the Well after all.

Taking that as a gesture she continued. "My view of the humans first changed when I'd been swimming up the river Nile, in the country now called Egypt, I'd gotten out of the water for a bit to enjoy the desert scenery, it was late afternoon and very hot, I strolled into a nearby town, many back then ran from me so I was used to the screams which I heard, it was only then that I realised they weren't screaming at me…" She paused again, her vents hitching.

Cliffjumper could tell she was talking about a sore topic. "You don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable enough." He reassured, Aurora shook her helm in response, drawing his attention to the band of metal which bent around the base of her neck cables, hanging from the band was a thick plumage of metallic blue feathers, they seemed to be a colour mix between her two main colours, and the front of her neck cables looked like they were protected by some sort of closely packed together plates.

"No, I need to talk about it sometimes, it helps. I walked into a massacre, the Pharaoh had ordered his men to… to… kill every human sparkling under the age of three year olds who were not Egyptian in mationality, none were spared and I couldn't do anything, it's a code I and my siblings go by, we are never to harm a human, the most we are to do is scare them off, but never physically harm them. But, I was so scared at the time, I'd only been on the planet for a few centuries, still young and impressionable, I'd ran, out of instinctive terror I ran, dived back into the water and never looked back. I still blame myself for letting those new lives perish, not doing anything to help the grieving mothers. After that, I could never look at a human in the same way again, when I was a bit older, I'd become friends with a general in the Roman army, he was a kind man and treated his slaves well, he was an open mind, a man with a vision of peace, but he kept it secret, I had been his only confident back then, seeing as I was immune to the allure of money and bribes, he also tried to shelter me from the rest of his culture, to keep me as innocent as possible, I mean by this because Roman's were very… erotic, Hedric always averted me from peoples public romps, banned intercourse in his home, but it was his vision of a better life which in the end was his fault, that and being friends with a being at that time, was larger than a battle ship. He was executed for high treason, no mercy was given to him, they tried to capture me and Harp, tried to turn us into slaves and weapons of war, I was forced to flee, I went back a week later, to say goodbye to Hedric, I was just in time to see his head cut off… It still haunts me. Hedric had not once done a thing against his leader, Nero." As she told her tale all Cliffjumper could do was stare at her in shock and awe, Prime would need to know about what his daughter had been through.

She continued. "As the centuries went by, I learnt of the true destructive nature of the human race, I made it my mission to protect as much innocence as I could, species extinct up above thrive here, for now let us just say that I've seen both the good and the bad side of humans throughout their history, how fickle they are and yet, if given no alternative incentive, they are very kind. One of the reasons we now avoid them." She explained.

"And your crystal necklace?" He had to ask, it was clearly missing from the femme.

"Stolen, long ago, and I cannot get it back, my servos are tied and no human has been selfless enough to give it back, their greed clouding their vision, I've given up trying to get it back, I don't even know where it is anymore." She admitted, her horns actually drooping slightly as she explained her reasoning.

Rage built up in his chassis, that was why Prime couldn't locate her, some human had stolen it from her! "Who's the glitch?" He growled.

"A man called Kronos from Ancient Greece, he's now seen as a God due to the status he gained from taking it from me, all of the humans back then thought he was a god, he soon became the living king of the Gods and well, the rest is history." She explained, they continued to walk, Cliffjumper was confused by this point, hadn't there been a water source that he'd actually climbed out of? Why hadn't she used that to let him see what he looked like?

"Any more questions?" She asked, back to her calmer state.

Cliffjumper nodded. "Yeah, who's Harp?" He had to ask after she'd mentioned them.

Aurora didn't verbally answer, turning to reveal her back strut, it was then that he realised that base of her wings where wrapped in armour, looking like they were made of solid metal feathers, providing support to the structures, which actually bent forwards slightly so the first joint in both wings was actually above her helm, before curling back behind her, giving the femme even more height.

He was about to ask what she meant when the brace began to shift, launching away from the femme before transforming into likely the largest Cybertronian bird he'd ever seen, she had the same colours as Aurora, meaning if you didn't know she was there you would've thought she was just another part of the larger Titan femme.

"Cliffjumper, this is Harp, she practically raised me when I was younger, kept me safe and helped me a lot, we work as a team, I carry her and she protects the base of my wings, they were badly damaged a long time ago, and now I can't support the weight of my own wings for too long a period of time." Aurora introduced, gesturing to the bird as she bowed.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, my designation as you know, is Harp, Aurora saved my life when she first arrived on this planet, and as she said, I have been helping to slowly heal her wings back to a point she can support their weight." She stated, lifting from her bow, it wasn't hard to hear the age in her voice, she'd clearly been an old bird before she met Aurora, and somehow the Titan femme had given her the life of a Cybertronian at some point or other.

"Err sure, hey uh where are we going?" He asked as he watched Harp clamber back up to the Titan femmes wings, now that he could see the bases he was shocked to see what lay there, the lower part of both wings had a massive chunk taken out of each of them, scarring was visible for a good metre on both, up the wings themselves and the metal around her shoulders, something serious had attacked her. "What caused that?!" He demanded, pointing at the injury just as Harp shifted back to cover them, the drooping wings where instantly pulled taught back up to the right position, they'd sagged heavily after Harp had released herself.

"This planet used to be infested with Metallic versions of myself back around the times of Ancient Greece, in fact there have been multiple Cybertronians here, a whole battle occurred a few centuries back which I happily avoided, hid here without going up top for about three decades afterwards, but those things, they were not natural, I could tell by how they smelt, all they did was destroy, those where from one I underestimated, her tail struck me there, I was grounded for a long time afterwards, but I killed her in the end, the area was weakened, but it didn't not cause this, that happened when a human got a lucky shot in with a cannon full of blunderbuss, riddled it with holes and unfortunately, a lot of it fell away before I could get to a safe location to start the healing process. In fact, I resurrected you using the fossilised remains of the one who weakened my wings mate, he was a charger so don't be surprised if you have a hard time learning to fly, your variation is more for charging ground level enemies." She said, pointing to his own wings, they were certainly smaller than that of the Titan femmes. "Whilst mine, are built for speed and mobility in the air. Which they currently cannot do."

"Wait!" The pieces began to click together in his helm. "You fought Predacons! How old where you!?" He exclaimed, Prime was going to have a fit if he found out.

"I think I was about the equivalent to four vorns old then." She answered simply, shrugging her shoulders. "I won every time, either broken neck or decapitated helm, I've used a few other methods as well, burning alive, drowning, dropped from a high height if they couldn't fly, I basically turned the whole species to dust over time, they'd attacked too many humans, there was also the fact they were under the control of the Decepticons, they'd been let lose here to defend the Energon reserves" She explained, she seemed to think it was nothing big.

Cliffjumper was truly stunned by her explanation, but before he could even utter a syllable, she spoke. "We're here."

He looked forward, realising that at some point they'd entered a massive cave system, the walls where made of something along the lines of marble, and before them, was a pool of shining water, no, the water was actually glowing like it was full of bioluminescent life forms. Resulting in it being impossible to see the bottom due to the brightness of the pond.

"Reach you're servo out, this is important if you are to stay with us." Aurora stated, Cliffjumper nodded his helm and reached out cautiously. "Steady your spark, it will only make it harder if you allow it to beat out of time." Aurora commanded from beside him.

He did as told, starring into the water until something very… strange, happened, a thick silvery tendril reached out of the glowing pond, and pressed up against his servo, wrapping around it before seeping into the armour, something Cliffjumper had not been expecting, he'd been about ready to jolt away when he found he simply couldn't.

"Stay still, it will hurt once it reaches the spark, but it is necessary for you to live here for long periods of time." Aurora stated, there was barely any emotion in her voice, it actually spooked him how alike she was to Prime, even if she'd only spent a short amount of time with him.

He couldn't exactly move anyway, it was almost like every hydraulic in his frame had seized up like it almost had during his time in the sea of rust, he'd hated not having someone to talk to back then, but now, he honestly didn't feel all that sure about his present company.

He was so distracted, he didn't even notice as the tendril melded with his frame, slipping into every crevice and crack within his frame until it did in fact reach his spark, a grunt escaped his mouth plates as the silvery material wrapped around his very life force.

"What, what is it doing?" He asked, gritting his denta at the uncomfortable and slightly painful experience, this was beyond weird.

"Granting you your element, all those who reside here have one, I water, Razor has control over earth, Emily all of nature, Sonic the air and Rya fire, you Cliffjumper, are metal, all alloys and pure minerals are under your control. Try it, focus on something small which is entirely metallic and try and create it." Aurora commanded.

Cliffjumper nodded his helm, this was getting way too weird for him.

It wasn't a moment later before a shining Autobot insignia lay in his servo, the red colouring forming over the top like a ripple, spreading out from the centre to the edges of the symbol, Aurora nodded her helm. "Good, now, return to my siblings, Emily and Sonic are to help you learn to fly, Rya will, albeit grudgingly, help you with your fire breath, and Razor will teach you how to use your element along with how to fight in your new forms, do not expect to get this all at once, now, I have to go." She walked towards a small trickle of water which flowed into the pool.

Cliffjumper's slit optics widened as he spun to her, his movement now regained. "Wait! Where are you going?!" He exclaimed.

"I have an old friend I want to visit, and someone else, just follow the path back, I will have returned by night fall, until then Cliffjumper." With that said she performed a dive, only the water looked to only be a few centimetres deep, before the red and silver Predacon mech could even utter a call to get her back, she was gone, her entire frame entering the water and disappearing from sight, Cliffjumper could only rub his optics to try and see if he really had just seen that, it seemed so seeing as the blue femme was still missing from the cave. Almost like she'd become one with the water itself.

"Something tells me I ain't gonna get bored here." He chuckled in disbelief.

* * *

England

The expensive porcelain vase rattled slightly on its pedestal, causing the only being in the room to turn, her weary eyes watching as a single tendril of water poked out and slithered down to the ground, it quickly expanded, taking the form of one she had not seen since the first days after WW2, since that terrible incident none of them dared bring up. "Aurora, it has been too long." She exclaimed quietly, the two were quick to embrace, the blue haired teen was quick to envelop the elderly lady within her wings, which remained along with most of her Titan extremities whilst she was in her human form, she'd never been able to blend in with the crowd with those.

"Yes Elizabeth, yes it has." Aurora responded, pulling away to look at the Elderly lady. "You have certainly aged well my friend." She stated, a warm smile upon her face as her slit eyes focused on the woman's face.

Elizabeth huffed. "Yes well you look like you've barely aged a day these past seventy years!" She stated back.

"Not surprising, you were nineteen last we met, and I am still sixteen in my years, and you're eighty nine! Aging slower than a Tortoise does that I'm afraid." Aurora joked.

Elizabeth shook her head, her pale white curls barley moving as she gestured to two chairs. "Come, sit, we have much to talk about." She said, Aurora followed behind, Elizabeth couldn't help but notice the fact that Aurora didn't look as human anymore, she looked more like a bipedal dragon, her face was still human-ish and she still had all the proportions of a modern day super model, but all of her form was now scales, even her face was covered in small dot like scales, her horns where now very prominent sticking out from underneath her lower back length mane like hair. Her legs still had dual joints and the feet themselves where completely draconic in nature, very little of her was still human in this form.

Aurora and Elizabeth settled themselves into the two chairs. "Tea?" Elizabeth offered, Aurora smiled.

"You know me too well, I'd never pass up an offer of tea. Just, wait a moment for me to hide." Before Elizabeth's very eyes Aurora shrunk and reformed, and soon enough, instead of a draconic female sitting in the chair opposite, now sat a small mouse sat in her place, her fur a pale grey with dark almost black blue spots.

Elizabeth blinked as she looked down at the small mammal. "When did you learn to do that?" She asked.

The mouse's whiskers twitched as she began. "During my time as a spy in Germany before the end of the war, soldiers never really killed mice this size due to the lack of any kind of meat and not wanting to waste any energy on such a small and quick meal." Aurora chirped before jumping down from the chair and scurrying under one of the cabinets next to the wall.

Elizabeth nodded her head. "Good idea, Winston!" She called, within moments a man dressed in Butlers attire was standing in the door way.

"Yes ma'am?" He asked, his voice rich with class to the point in which it was almost impossible to ignore.

"A plate of biscuits and two teas please, I'm feeling quiet peckish right now." She asked, the man nodded and walked back out, Elizabeth looked back up to the cabinet where she spotted Aurora watching. "They'll be here within the minute." Aurora nodded her furred head before back up to the seat and reforming into her draconic human form.

"I forget sometimes that you're the queen of this country." Aurora joked, thankful that the chair she sat in allowed her tail and wings to move without being crushed behind her, Harp would not enjoy that.

Elizabeth chuckled. "Yes well, I assume you didn't just come here for a simple chat for old time's sake, I can't remember one time in which you visited my predecessors to simply chat, and you're a femme of business if I remember the word correctly. But still, it's been seventy years since I last saw you, so much has happened, and for the first thirty, I only had the Endermire's cryptic words to tell me about how you were all coping." Elizabeth stated, her shoulders slumped slightly.

Aurora shook her head. "And then they were all killed, and Emily became one of us, by accident, a lot has happened these past seventy years, no one can deny that. Once again though Elizabeth, you know me too well. And yes, femme is the correct term when referring to a female Cybertronian."

"Ah yes, that robotic race my advisor warned me about, he alerted me to their arrival, but I assume a being such as yourself would've known the moment they landed on this planet if I am to be correct." She asked almost as a challenge.

"Yes, Razor and Sonic were aware of their arrival first, my sire is the leader of them." Aurora responded, Elizabeth's demeanour brightened almost the moment the news sunk in.

"Surely you must off met up with him! How is… You haven't, have you?" Realisation dawned on her when Aurora looked away, then shaking her head in response.

"You know me Elizabeth… I'm a femme who prefers to work behind the scenes and pull the strings which lead to the master plan, and besides, it's too dangerous for me to reveal myself, or my siblings, it could spell disaster for this world, you know that better than anyone else alive…" Her horns perked up, Winston was returning.

She once again shifted into the form of a blue tit, quickly scurrying back under the cabinet, finding her safe spot just as Winston entered the room with the asked for food and drinks. "Your Tea and Biscuits Ma'am." He announced as he placed them down on the table.

"Ah, thank you Winston, that is all." Winston bowed to her before leaving the room, Aurora was quickly back in her chair. "Yes Aurora, I know, but not even a hint that you're alive?" She asked.

"History's mentions of me should be enough, no matter how hard I've tried to keep myself hidden, there's always something from every era till WW2" She stated. "Besides, one of them joined us today, they think he's offline, but I brought him back, he's a Predacon now."

Elizabeth froze from where she'd been about to take a bite out of her biscuit. "Oh, well that's certainly a step in the right direction at least, I won't ask, but instead, I assume you came to ask about your necklace." Aurora's complete and undivided attention was on her now.

"You've found it?" She never did give up all hope of getting it back, her hope dwindled however when she saw Elizabeth's crest fallen looks. "Lizzie?" She asked, using the nickname she'd given the queen all those years ago.

"It's in Russia, around Vladimir Putin's neck, and he is not in any mood to sell it, it's swapped hands three times since it happened and you left, the first was North Korea from Vietnam, then China during the cold war, and now Russia, I'm sorry Aurora, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit more, and that I will not be alive to see you finally get it back."

Aurora leaned over and wrapped her wings and arms around the older woman, pulling her into a gentle hug. "Hey, it's okay, I've gone centuries without it, I can go a bit longer Liz." She pulled back, taking an entire biscuit, breaking it in half and swallowing both at once, the familiar whirring sound building up from within her neck as it set to work on the food.

Elizabeth stared at the teen's throat, no matter how many times she heard Aurora's method of digestion it always intrigued her. "Keeping those things sharp I hope?" She asked jokingly.

Aurora nodded, letting the whirring die down before speaking again. "Don't I always?" She asked.

"Yes, yes you do, but that never makes me stop worrying about whether or not you're going to break one of those blades, that would be quiet bad for your health would it not?" She asked.

Aurora shrugged "Not much one can do about that when it happens, if I break one and it cuts my neck into little tiny bits, then I'm screwed, but until then I'm fine, now, I must be on my way soon, I have to go speak with someone else." She explained as she finished off her own cup of tea. "They really know how to brew a good cuppa." She said approvingly.

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes I suspected as much, give your sibling's my regards, and tell Emily that she has my condolences for what happened, when you sent that letter I had been so relieved to hear at least one of her family had survived that horrible incident." They embraced one another a final time before Aurora walked back over to the porcelain vase, she glanced back at the Queen of England, having heard she'd arisen from her seat. "Oh and Aurora?!" She called, making her turn back to look at the elderly woman. "Don't go outside wearing that, alright? A little too space age for many if you understand my point." She said, gesturing to the seventeen year olds attire, the pale blue skin tight suit was made up of hexagonal plates which were highlighted by thin strips of darker blue, the wrists and ankles held in place by large dark blue bangles and anklets which attached to the attire, the back was cut away to give room for her wings and tail along with the large oval cut on her mid rift.

"Do not worry Liz, I doubt I will be going out in public anytime soon, I just prefer this, it's more comfortable, gives me the feeling that I'm still in scales. And I will give Emily your condolences Liz, and I'll come and visit more often, it feels good to talk to someone other than my siblings some times." She stated.

Suddenly Elizabeth remembered something else, the reason the Titan and her family had gone underground after WW2. "Aurora, about Ig-." She didn't finish, Aurora had raise a hand for silence.

"Please Liz, it is still too painful to speak about, that day will always be one of loss and tragedy to speak of, Rya never recovered. It is why we have remained hidden for so long, don't, under any circumstances believe that me visiting you has meant we have recovered, for we have not." With that her entire body liquefied, Elizabeth could still make out to the teens features as she dived into the vase, disappearing once again.

Elizabeth released a sad yet content sigh, she should of known asking would only distress her. "Until next time then Aurora Titan, tell Rya, I am truly sorry. It should never off happened." 'You've been through enough as it is because of us.' She thought, deciding to keep the last part of her statement to herself.

* * *

Somewhere over Tibet

The only occupant in the dark room turned as the bowl of water on their desk wobbled, a sign that she was coming for a visit, the room itself was a dark blue, almost to the point one would mistake it as black, it was sparsely furnished, seeing as the occupant rarely spent any time there instead of working.

Aurora's bipedal form was quick to materialise next to the desk, wings having to fold closer to her back strut so that they wouldn't scrape the ceiling, which would be hard to explain if someone found them. Especially seeing as the occupant of the room wasn't supposed to draw any suspicion to protect their true motives.

"Soundwave. It is good to see you again, ever the 'loyal only to Megatron TIC' I hope." Aurora greeted, her servo gripping the other Cybertronian's upper lower arm in greeting whilst the Decepticon's TIC did the same.

Soundwave's mask unclipped in their servos, it was quick to be pulled away to reveal stunning blue optics and plump black lip plates, Soundwave snorted. "As if, you know I can barely stand that glitch." She growled, Soundwave was actually a femme, not that anyone other than Aurora and her siblings knew, that was alive that is.

"Yes well that can't be helped, how have you been faring?" She asked, sitting on the smaller femmes desk with one pede crossed over the other, her pedes still firmly placed on the ground beneath her to support most of her weight, they both knew the desk couldn't take the Titan femmes entire weight, it was buckling enough as it was from the mound of Data pads which normally rested there alone.

Soundwave could sense her best friends distress, something which only happened when she thought of 'it'. They never even spoke of it, it had become a taboo within their small group, never to speak of that day and what it had caused and how much pain they'd all felt, she chose not to address Aurora about it, Aurora knew that she knew, they would both remain silent about it for now, as they always had.

Soundwave shrugged her shoulders, taking her own seat on her berth. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's better now that the Bucket Helm is here, I swear I was this close to blowing my cover just so I could destroy that insufferable glitches processor, I'd be doing the universe a favour." She stated, her pointed denta bared in disgust as she used two of her long digits to show exactly how close she'd been to doing as she said, and it was very close.

"Yes well, for now you'll just have to vent your frustration on this." Aurora responded, handing over a small wrapped box, small for Aurora that is, the box would easily crush a human if dropped on them.

Soundwave cast her a curious glance before pulling the ribbon undone, lifting the lid she couldn't help but smirk at the irony of the gift Aurora had given her.

An Starscream exact mini rubbery putty replica was what she found, with pop out optics and limbs so that if one were to squeeze it they could be technically pulling the mech apart. "How did you know? I thought I was the telepath of the group?" She asked mockingly, they often joked liked this when they were alone together, it was honest fun with them taking slight jabs to one another.

Aurora shrugged. "Could feel your annoyance through the element bond, be careful though, Cliffjumper's now become part of that, private conversations only so you won't draw attention to yourself. We really don't need Cliffjumper knowing that the third in command of the Decepticons is not only a double agent, but also a femme!" She joked the last part, Soundwave released her own laughter to join with the bellowing rumbles that Aurora produced, the grey and purple femme however was silently happy that her room was sound proofed, not that it would be effective if Aurora decided to use the full capacity of her lungs whilst in her true form, the ship likely wouldn't even survive.

Aurora suddenly became serious. "Why don't you take your true form? I know for certain that no one else can look inside your room without your permission." Aurora stated.

Soundwave shrugged. "I've been stuck in this form for so long, it some time's slips my processor that I have it, give me a klik." Soundwave jumped off the berth, her pedes making soft thudding sounds as they made contact with the ground.

Her entire frame began to ripple, starting from just above her optics and down through the rest of her frame, Aurora watched with a smirk of pride as one of her closest friends shifted into her true form, a stealth class Predacon.

Soundwave was a little different from other Predacons, she was a rare type of Therapod Predacon, a member of the stealth class, whereas Cliffjumper was a member of the charger class, which meant she walked on her hind pedes most of the time, but her front limbs where long, strong and dextrous as well, meaning they too could support her weight, it allowed her the ability to pick things up with her front limbs, something Aurora could technically do, but Titan's where Quadropeds, which meant she could rear up onto her hind legs and use her front limbs to grip stuff, but walking made her look like a giant blue duck and she'd have to bend almost completely in half to pick something up, which was why she either picked it up with her jaw, tail or just used some water to carry it instead.

Soundwave lowered her helm so she could scratch behind one of the many straight and very sharp horns which decorated her helm in this form. "Ah, much better, I swear to Primus and the Ancient Titan's themselves that I need to get out of here and fly for a bit." She grumbled.

"Well, until I trust Cliffjumper enough to know our little secret you won't be able to fly with me, Emily and Sonic in the cavern. But don't worry, Liara told me that he'll be ready to know within about two months, and by then the process for the next Autobot would be well on its way." Aurora explained.

"It's okay, I just hate how bleak this place is you know, it's like I'm back in the pits again trying to hide what gender I was so I didn't get violated. I still remember that cycle when your aunt just appeared in the middle of the arena and killed the mech about to offline me, I swear to Primus no one had been expecting her to just show and stab a mech through the chassis with her tail. She saved my spark that day, and as you know, I've been loyal only to the Titan's since, and since you and Emily are the only living one's left, it's kind of a given who I serve." She stated, deciding to just vocalise her story, sometimes she herself found it hard to believe she'd really been the one chosen by the Ancient Titan's for this task.

"Bet you hadn't been expecting her to turn you into a Predacon though." Aurora joked, Soundwave shook her helm.

"No, that certainly caught me off guard waking up one cycle to find myself as a Predacon, but, I know it was for the greater good. Just wish the war had never happened, you know?" She rumbled, looking down at her thin digits as they curled tightly around the other servo.

Aurora sighed. "Yeah, I wonder sometimes what it would've been like if the war had never happen, if the councils weren't so corrupt, but, we both know I would've perished on Cybertron if I'd been exposed to much more of the toxic atmosphere there. So I guess I would've had a bit more time with my sire." Aurora shrugged, it was a sad truth, Liara had told her about that fact she was less than three orns from keeling over from her furnace being snuffed by the lack of correct gasses in Cybertron's atmosphere, which would either of lead to blockages in her system or complete starvation, neither of which had a high survival rate.

Soundwave placed a clawed servo on the larger femmes shoulder plate, marvelling even now at how it was made up of metallic versions of her normal scales. "I'm pretty sure he would've done everything in his power to make sure you were healthy. I doubt he's forgotten about you too, you could send him some type of message you know? Just to let him know you're alive." She suggested, Aurora sighed as she leant back, having to tuck her wings closer to her form to do so.

"Elizabeth suggested the same thing, I guess I could, but you know me." She shrugged, she'd only spent so much time with him, barely anything really, but she still knew he was her adopted sire, Liara had made that very clear.

Soundwave chuckled. "You're more cryptic then even I am when I'm in disguise!" She exclaimed, the two let out brief chuckles until Soundwave froze for a moment before sighing. "That was Megatron, he wants me to go other the plans for the space bridge again to quadruple check." She muttered darkly, shifting back into her bipedal form and placing her visor back on, they embraced a final time before Aurora wordlessly remerged with the water in the bowl, slipping away without so much as a ripple.

Soundwave released a tired sigh from behind her visor, she hated this, working for the Decepticons, but, Liara needed her to do this and she'd given Aurora the data pad with all the recent activities during their farewell hug, and now, it was time to return to the illusion.

* * *

 **Thoughts? Good? Bad? Meh, if you didn't like it, I wont judge, haven't even started the next chapter yet (chapter 10) so don't expect to see an update too soon, I want to make sure this story is as good as it can be, hopefully you all don't mind the fact that Soundwave's a femme, you'll be seeing a lot of her and a whole lot of Aurora's siblings, Rya's certainly and fun character, Emily was actually on her best behavior this episode...**

 **Emily: You didn't let me have any fun you mean!**

 **Moon: Because if I had, you would've likely scared the poor mech half to the well! He'd just gotten back!**

 **Aurora: The author is correct there.**

 **Emily: You're siding with her?! No fair!**

 **Moon: Deal with it, now then, once again, Aurora, sorry about crippling you there, but, plot.**

 **Aurora: I understand, I welcome the fact you let Harp exist, had she not been there for me, well, I wouldn't be here.**

 **Moon: Very true, now then, until next time, see yah everyone!**


	5. New routine and a bit of fun

**And here be chapter 5! Finally got chapter 9 done, so now it's time to let you all see this one. Not much to say, Aurora and her siblings, along with anyone else in the Titan race mentioned, are mine, everything else belongs to hasbro, so without further ado, on with the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 5

Aurora let out a relieved sigh as she lowered herself against the flow of one of her favourite waterfalls, Cliffjumper and Razor where standing in the clearing in front of her facing off, Rya was chewing on one of the rubber trees Emily had made for her, the red and black femme just had a thing for the rubbery sap, Aurora couldn't see how in truth, tasted like oil to her.

"I've been meaning to ask big guy, what the frag do you turn into? A massive honking Alligator or something?" Cliffjumper asked, Aurora's attention was instantly back on the two, Sonic was off tending to his clouds, something he did when he was bored and Emily was once again experimenting with her plants, it was a good idea to stay out of that part of the cavern when that happened, especially Rya, seeing as Emily's experiments seemed happy to try and eat Rya whenever they got lose, it had happened a few times this year already, not to mention the amount of times it had happened the past four decades since Emily's arrival.

Razor tilted his helm to the side, optics shuttering a few times before focusing in on the slightly smaller mech, until they widened and he lowered himself into a bow. "My apologies Cliffjumper, I had all but forgotten you do not know of mine or my sibling's beast forms." Rya looked over at her brother, rubber leaf half hanging from between her peg like denta as she looked at the two but didn't comment, surely the mech had noticed she was in her beast form and true form, a Dracorex, it was pretty hard not to notice seeing as she was now very much a Theropod herbivore.

Cliffjumper waved him off. "Just curious, seeing as I'm meant to be staying here with you all."

Razor shook his helm. "But it was rude of us, here I will show you my true form." His plates shifted as he began his transformation sequence, Cliffjumper watched on in awe whilst Rya went back to chewing and Aurora leant back into the waterfalls torrent more, it was getting just the right spots as always.

The serene air which had fallen over the area was all but shattered when Razor released a ground shaking roar at the end of his transformation, green fire spewing from his mouth plates towards the sky as a way of showing off a bit.

Rya released a startled cry, helm snapping upwards and colliding with the thick branch above, her limp form falling forwards after knocking herself unconscious. Aurora was equally startled, not even having time to vocalise her shock before she fell backwards completely into the plunge pool, her whole frame submerging into the crystalline blue waters.

Emily came charging round from behind a cluster of trees, green and red optics darting all over to see what was wrong. "I saw Razor's fire! Who's attacking?! Where's the bloody air force when you need it!" She exclaimed, waving her servos around, one of them seeming to have some sort of red bulb attached to it.

Razor looked around along with Cliffjumper as Aurora pulled herself back out of the water, a large amount of algae sticking to her frame as she glared at Razor, who pulled his neck closer to the rest of his frame in embarrassment. "There's no attack sister, just Razor showing off to Cliffjumper." Aurora stated as she stepped out of the pool, her claws already trying to brush away the water plant life sticking to her like barnacles.

Razor chuckled from where he stood in his true form, an adolescent Spinosaurus, his fan shaped doorwings having come together to create the large sail which ran down the length of his back strut, but as he looked at the displeased faceplates of his elder sibling, the normally cool and collected mech faltered, crocodilian jaw clacking together as the lethal claws on each of his muscular forearms twitched.

Razor was about fifteen vorns in age, the same as Sonic, Rya was around thirteen, whilst Emily was sixteen and Aurora seventeen, Aurora was turning eighteen in around six months, not much time left in comparison to the 248.5 years she'd spent at the age of seventeen, whilst Emily had only just turned sixteen before she became a Titan so she had a long way to go still before she turned seventeen. But it was the simple fact that Aurora had the power to end them, that often put fear in all of her younger siblings sparks when she became irritated or any other negative emotion beyond stress, she brought them back, and they all knew that the dead cannot be brought back a second time. Treading on eggshells had never been a more accurate statement.

Aurora released an aggravated sigh as she wiped away the last of the algae that she could reach, he horns would need extra work to get all of it, but for now, she would live with it. "Just, don't do that again without warning us. You of all males should know how tense this situation is." She relented, looking at her brother with a warm, yet toothy smile, it was stressful to no end being the eldest of the group.

And with the age she would soon turn, came the next growth spurt, but Aurora was used to those now, unfortunately her growth spurts now made it impossible to be her true form without being spotted, her tail alone was the length of a cargo ship, times that by about three and you had her full length, then add the width of her wings when fully spread, which was about the same as her total length, then add the height her front and back legs gave her, which was about three quarters of a cargo ship, yes, she measured herself in cargo ships now, she'd given up on regular human measurements long ago after they got plain confusing back in the Tudor era. Not that the ever increasing size of the ships she used made it any easier to understand. It had been irritating to say the least having to allow a human to measure her every about three weeks, which was how long it took for some whack job royal to change the official measurements again.

She was just glad she was able to shrink her true form, her minimum size being about the size of a double decker bus, still large but at least she wasn't going to be crushing multiple buildings with every step as easily. Emily could do the same, kind of, whenever she shrunk she took the form of a Giraffe, don't ask Aurora or anyone why or how this happened but Emily did it none the less, claiming that it was her favourite animal and that there was nothing wrong with being a little biased, she could take her normal form at that size, she just, didn't want to.

Rya growled as she pulled herself back up, first glaring death at the branch before it spontaneously combusted, then her fiery glare turned upon her older brother. "You know Razor." She began in a sugary sweet voice. "Next time you want to show off, HOW ABOUT SOME ANCIENTS DAMN WARNING NEXT TIME FOR THE EASILY STARTLED YOU SON OF A BITCH!" She bellowed, ending with a loud and anger filled honk, she couldn't roar or screech and shriek like her older siblings, seeing as her species didn't have the vocal capacity. (That didn't stop her from hating the fact it made her sound like a duck though.)

Cliffjumper however seemed very amused by the youngest of the group's vocal projection, his cheek plates puffing out slightly before he keeled over onto his side in a bout of uproarious laughter, lubricant forming under his optics as he clutched his sides.

Rya hissed as her claws clenched, still in beast form she looked to the side with her beak raised in the air. "Yeah, yeah, yeah we get it, the Dracorex has a _hilarious_ call, now shut your trap before they hear you on the surface already." She huffed, smoke billowing from her olfactory sensors which were just above her beak.

Emily was her saving grace as he shook her arm over the still laughing Predacon mech, the bulbs green vines detached on their own and landed on his side, a moment later the vines had snapped out and completely immobilised the mech, who quickly began an attempt to break free of the vines when he realised his movements had been heavily restricted.

Aurora turned to her almost identical sister with a raised optic ridge. "New experiment?" She asked, Emily nodded excitedly.

"Yup, well kind of, remember that one I made back in 1997? You know the one that shot bullet like seeds so they could act as sentries." Emily asked.

Rya growled before Aurora could answer. "It took three god damn months to get those all out of my armour!" She snapped.

"I helped get them back out remember!" Emily hissed back.

"Yeah, after Aurora told you to." Rya bit back.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy femmes, no one needs to see you two try and bite each other's helms off." Razor stated as he stepped between the two and pushed them apart, now back in his bipedal form.

Aurora rolled her optics before kneeling down beside the still bound Predacon mech. "Well I can now officially say, welcome to the Cavern, here, let me get that." She stated before pinching one of the vines, a shrill hissing sound burst from the bloom before the vines retreated, allowing the red and silver mech to get back up onto his clawed pedes.

"Thanks, but seriously, are those two always at one another's neck cables?" He asked gesturing to the two, who were currently being held back by Razor and Sonic, the two mechs straining with the effort of keeping their sisters from maiming one another.

"Every single day, and then there's times when Rya and Razor won't get along, then Rya and Sonic, basically at some point every other day one of us is a the others neck cables, I'm surprised we're all still alive!" She responded, he could now understand why Aurora looked so tired, having to deal with that of an almost completely dysfunctional family unit and all the atrocities she'd likely witnessed would leave a femme in a state of constant tiredness.

"You know, you sound like Ultra Magnus after he's come back from a mission with the Wreckers." Cliffjumper joked, trying to lighten the Titan femme's spirits.

Aurora responded with a bark of laughter, something which caught him off guard, simply because he wasn't expecting her to have such a loud laugh, in truth he should of expected it, Titan's weren't exactly small, which meant that they were likely packing some serious pipes in there somewhere, but still it caught him off guard, one might just mistake her for an incoming train on a foggy night, something he certainly didn't want to experience. "I remember his rants, I could hear them even from my bunker under the base in Crystal city. Every time he'd complain about their insubordination, 'Optimus Prime Sir! These Wreckers are out of control! They blatantly ignore orders, run helm long into suicide missions without even a moment of planning! I implore you to do something to control them!' Was what he said the first time he complained about the Wreckers. I do miss those cycles when I was younger."

Cliffjumper could only chuckle, but was quick to join Aurora in trying to break up the sibling fight, training he assumed would begin again later.

* * *

Eight hours later

Cliffjumper collapsed onto the large nest that Aurora and her siblings recharged on within the massive palace they'd apparently built over time, the thing was huge! Every surface was made out of pristine white marble to the point he was left wondering if it was one of the main light sources of the Cavern, it had over seven floors and looked for all the world like a medieval castle on steroids, Razor had had to apparently raise the actual roof of the cavern to fit the final eight of the tallest spires! They called it, Palace of the Titan's, fitting in his opinion.

Not even having the strength to switch back out of his beast mode he allowed his whole frame to collapse and just loosen every sore cable in his frame, which was all of them, to put it simply, he was sore all over and completely void of any and all energy, it had taken a solid thirty minutes to calm Rya down, which was when he learnt a very important fact about the smallest femme, she was blind in her left optic, it still worked, but the link between it and her processor had been at some point severed, and none of them knew how to fix it, it was apparently one of the reasons Rya was so violent, a defence measure to make sure that everyone knew to stay away and wouldn't try and sneak up on her.

He'd learnt that the hard way when he came towards her from her left, she'd spooked and sent a very large torrent of flame his way, hence why his paint was now instead of crimson red and sterling silver he was charred black. He'd wash the soot off in the morning.

After that incident the fight calmed down, apparently Rya had needed to spew some fire to calm down, lucky him, after that Razor had begun putting him through his paces, the Spinoformer had in no way been gentle, and the moment he'd successfully transformed into his new beast form? Razor had tried to cleave his helm of with a **_giant, flaming, spiked, longsword!_** How in any way that had been fair he didn't know, thankfully his tail had acted on its own, the limb having wiped forward so that the two fork like blades caught the incoming blade mere moments from impact.

It had continued on from there, Cliffjumper being forced to defend himself from the ruthless attacks coming from the mech that he'd _thought_ was the _pacifist_ of the group! Apparently he wasn't, and it was just the fact the rest of the crazy lot of them where even more volatile! Hence why Razor seemed to be the calmest.

Why did Aurora bring him back if her family was just going to cut him up into tiny little pieces again?

Something joined him in the nest and collapsed to the ground on the other side, opening one slit optic Cliffjumper could see Sonic in his beast mode nestling down into a sitting position, he'd learnt that the mech was a large Pterosaur called a Hatzegopteryx. But seeing as Cliffjumper knew he had no chance in the Pit to pronounce that, he'd just call Sonic a Hatze from now on, much easier to remember in his tired processors opinion.

But he knew not to call him that to his faceplates, turns out the mech had (if even possible) more vanity then Sunstreaker! He would almost constantly preen himself, claiming his frame had to be absolutely perfect for it to produce perfect flight, why that meant he had to carefully preen every, single, feather and inch of that stretchy stuff which made up his wings, was beyond Cliffjumper completely.

"Hey cloudy, finally decided to join us humble grounders?" He asked coyly, wanting to test the waters before he let recharge claim him.

Sonic gave a distasteful hiss. "Dare to ever say that word when referring to me again and I shall be the one to drop you from the upper stratosphere!"

He probably would've continued had Razor's lethal tail not landed on top of his beak, Cliffjumper still wasn't sure why he needed that spiked hammer back there, the flaming swords, lethal arms and crushing jaw strength wasn't enough already?! Give him a gun turret and one might as well call Razor the ultimate tank! "Be quiet Sonson, you reacting will only encourage him, and you should know that." Razor chastised before he lifted his tail and settled on his front next to Cliffjumper. "You did well Cliffjumper, Aurora was impressed, you know how to defend yourself well enough for now, tomorrow we'll work on your ability to attack, after that, Emily or Sonic will teach you how to fly, then, Aurora will teach you how to control your element. Understood?" Cliffjumper nodded his helm at Razor's instructions, but in truth would of really liked to of scratched his helm in confusion.

Somehow, Razor knew this. "I'll repeat it when you are well rested, for now, wait for the others to settle, it's best to stay awake until Rya's out of it, then you can recharge without her kicking you."

Cliffjumper by this point was completely lost, teetering on the edge of passing out completely.

One by one everyone clambered into the large nest until only Aurora and Emily stood outside in their Bipedal forms, his right optic caught Aurora and Emily talking, but he couldn't quite make it out, finally, he could hold off recharge no longer and slipped away into comforting darkness.

Outside the nest, Aurora was almost at the point of pulling on her horns. "You're kidding me? Right?" She asked her sister.

Emily shook her helm, having been the one to actually read the Data pad Soundwave had given Aurora earlier. "Wish I was, Megatron's back. And what we found in Cliffjumper was only a small piece of a much bigger chunk, they're planning something big. And let's not forget the two human males and human female who saw Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee, it's all getting too complicated, way too much drama in my opinion." Emily huffed, she preferred things to be simple, at least when it had nothing to do with her plants and animals, then complicated was the name of the game for her.

Aurora restrained herself from punching something, reverting to a human curse to show her distress. "Bullocks." She hissed, dentas grinding as she tried to control herself. "It's not time for the plan to start yet! Nowhere near time yet!" She exclaimed, stress radiating from her frame.

Emily's optics gained an empathetic look to them as she placed her clawed servo on her older sisters shoulder plate, being careful not to place it on one of the knife like edges. "Hey, don't worry Ro, we'll get through this, besides, it gives you an excuse to go see Sound." Emily suggested.

Aurora shook her helm. "No Em, it is best that I don't visit too often, her 'co-workers' might get suspicious." Aurora paused in thought for a moment. "We can't intervene yet, at least directly we can't." She muttered, walking away from the nest, Emily stood there for a moment before following her older sister out of the room and down multiple corridors, Aurora was lost in her own thoughts and when that happened it normally meant she was thinking something over to the point a human would likely collapse from an information overload.

"Sis? What do you mean?" Emily finally asked after Aurora came to a stop within the massive library Aurora had insisted had to be put in during the palace's creation.

Aurora turned to face her sister. "Liara said we can't make contact until the correct time has come, she didn't say we couldn't help them, discreetly." Aurora explained.

Emily shuttered her optics in confusion. "That makes just about as much sense as what you said previously." Emily stated, servo now on her hip as she stared at her sister, it was getting late and she would really enjoy a nice long nap.

Aurora groaned and rolled her optics, her sister wasn't the quickest of thinkers when recharge is postponed. "What I mean, is we use our elements to help them, without physically joining them, you know? Make it look like Mother Nature, i.e. you and the rest of us, are really pissed at the Cons, for example, let the trees take a few whacks at them." She suggested.

Emily instantly perked up. "I could use my sentries!" She trilled, now fully awake and bouncing around in glee at the prospect of using her creations to help.

Aurora couldn't say no, but she also knew that Emily couldn't let herself go overboard. "Yes you can." She had to react fast to clamp her sisters mouthplates shut before she woke up their siblings. "But only to deter the Cons from whatever the Bots need, we only help when absolutely necessary though, remember, if we do this, we can't be spotted."

Emily paused for a moment. "Well we don't exactly blend into the scenery though, how are they not going to see us?" She asked, gesturing to their bipedal forms.

"Simple, we take on the forms of whatever organic species live in the area using our elements, you do it all the time when you turn into that Giraffe." She pointed out.

Emily pouted slightly. "Yeah but who's ever heard of a Giraffe walking through Rome all on its lonesome?" She stated, crossing her arms over her chassis.

Aurora rolled her optics. "I mean, we take the forms of local animals, say, if we went to the Australian outback to follow the bots, who's going to assume a bunch of Kangaroo's are suspicious? And it's not like all of us are going to go, those with their elements being the richest in that area will go, so if there's a river nearby then I will go, if there's plant life nearby you'll go, there should be at least three of us going each time, that should work right?" She tried to explain.

Emily thought it over for a moment before nodding her helm. "Yeah, I think this'll actually work, we'll have to get permission from Liara before we do anything though… now that we've settled that matter, can I go sleep now?" She asked.

Aurora chuckled. "You have no tolerance to tiredness." She taunted, but stepped out of the way when her sister walked past.

"Fuck you." Emily muttered sleepily.

"I'd prefer you wouldn't." Aurora remarked triumphantly.

Emily only grumbled under her vents as she stalked away to her own room, why Ciffjumper had decided to crash in the living room when he had a perfectly decent room already made for him she wouldn't know, and by the looks of it her siblings where just rolling with it for the night.

"Something tells me our group is only going to get larger from here on out." Harp muttered as she detached herself from Aurora's wing bases, clambering onto her shoulder plates as Aurora stepped into her own room, everything was styled to make her feel comfortable, in other words, it was either made out of water or looked like water was flowing there, calm and soothing.

Her berth was surprisingly not a water bed though, in fact she didn't even have a berth, in its place was a large pool of water with five metres in depth, heated to just the right temperature so that she could just slip in.

She gave a final stretch before shifting into her beast form, the one which would actually fit in the room that is, which was about the length of two passenger train cars, Harp had already flown over to her perch and was doing her pre-sleep preen as Aurora eased herself into the soothing water, she'd had a berth many, many years ago, but after her siblings showed up, she found that sleeping in the pool relieved much more stress.

"I wonder how Sound is doing." She muttered just as her helm was completely submerged and she drifted off.

Harp peered over at Aurora then, smiling warmly at the one she saw as he daughter began recovering from another long day, but, as it was every night now, her mind reminded her that her time was running out, she was an old femme now, she'd have maybe a human decade left at the most until her time finally ran out, thankfully, Aurora's wings were now less than one year away from being strong enough to fly again, they'd always have the large gaping holes at the bases, but, with all the work she'd done in constantly strengthening them, they would be ready, and she would see her daughter rule the sky once again, like she had all those eons ago, spreading terror through the hearts and minds of all who looked to the sky's as her colossal form blotted out the sun. But until the day her daughter could fly again, she would continue to work, her daughter would fly again, they'd come too far now to just back down.

* * *

Nemesis

Soundwave sighed behind her visor as she finished with the final task Megatron had set for her, Ravage sat at her pedes, purring happily as Laserbeak slumbered on from where she was attached to her chassis, all in all it was quiet on the main bridge, the Vehicons all minding their own business and none of the other officers in sight, at least until the bane of her existence strode in with that smug 'mightier than thou' look on his faceplates, oh how she dreamed of ripping that seekers helm off and mounting it on her wall, then put a tarp on it because she did not want to ever look at that mug again if it could be helped.

"Ah Soundwave, how goes the work on the Space bridge?" Starscreamed purred, inside her subspace the mini Starscream Aurora had given her was being squeezed to almost breaking point by one of her tentacles, giving her a small amount of relief, Aurora was a serious life saver sometimes.

With her pent up frustration partially released she simply pointed a slender digit towards the screen, showing all the insufferable seeker needed to see.

Starscream snorted. "Yes well, continue with your work, we don't need our plans delayed now do we?" He sneered, clearly thinking the complete opposite.

She had to loosen the tentacle slightly to prevent the stress reliever from losing its head. She did not want to break Aurora's gift so soon after receiving it, that would be simply too rude.

An idea suddenly flew into her helm, she opened her subspace and drew the stress reliever into clear view of the seeker, whose ego instantly got in the way of his processor. "Oh? A secret admirer of yours truly hmm? Why Soundwave I never knew, although I can see where such an admiration would come from, my unsurpassable skill in the air? My luscious frame? My well-toned vocali…?" He didn't finish, watching in disturbed horror as the tentacle holding the mini replica of himself began to constrict around it, squeezing the toy until with an audible 'pop' was heard as the optics, helm, limbs and wings of the toy popped out, hanging my the strips of rubber which held them to the torso, she didn't know it could do that.

With the demonstration done she placed the recovered toy back into her subspace and lifted her arm, single thin digit pointing to the door out of the bridge, Starscream for once seemed to get the message and quickly excused himself from the room.

Once the doors slid shut behind the disturbed seeker, Soundwave allowed herself a moment of reprieve, that mech was a constant pain in her aft which refused to leave, sometimes she really whished that Liara hadn't given her this mission, but if she hadn't, Soundwave knew she would no longer be online, which is not something she would prefer, she was a femme who preferred to stay online for as long as possible.

Finishing her final task for the night she left the bridge to head towards the flight deck, any Vehicon she passed was quick to turn away and any slackers instantly set back to work on their own tasks, as was the power of her sheer presence, and she didn't even have to use her powers, her title alone meant she was respected, certainly more than that insufferable Starscream, she only hoped Megatron would finally run out of reasons to keep that mech online and would just terminate him, it would make all their lives that bit easier.

Finally she reached the flight deck, Ravage had followed close behind her and now stood at her side, without even needing to send a command he leapt at her back strut and transformed into the place his form latches onto just below her neck cables.

With that complete, Soundwave stepped off the edge of the ship, allowing herself to go into free fall, she preferred falling away from the ship over flying away, as it meant she could watch the slag hole she had to live in slowly shrink away until it was hidden from the clouds.

Aurora and her siblings would be deep in recharge by now, meaning she didn't have her best friend to talk to, so she would just have to do her second favourite past time since arriving on Earth, mess with human minds.

That was her element, the will of the mind, a surprisingly strong thing, and a powerful weapon if done right, and Soundwave had had eons to perfect and master it.

Of course she wasn't one to completely destroy a humans mind, she followed the same code as Aurora, no harming humans, unless you believe they deserve a punishment such as death, so instead she just liked to scare the ever living slag out of them, she'd done it so many times to Starscream though, it barely had any charm, but the fresh reactions of her human victims always allowed her to feel that bit of demonic glee which always resided in her, yes she was a little twisted, but after seeing what Shockwave had done over the eons and had to document every little detail, could you really blame her for liking someone having their brain partially fried simply because she wished it or was bored, that's what a lot of human Gods have been depicted as doing, Zeus being a good example.

But what she wanted most, was to see Megatron's face when she finally revealed who she was, who she truly worked for, and what she was. However, that time was still a great distance off.

Before she could brood anymore, she'd arrived at the ground, having shifted into her true form she easily glided over the Indonesian jungle, she knew not to trespass there, Emily had wired the place with thousands of traps, and very few were smart enough to recognise her as safe, she did have to dodge the odd acid and spike covered logs which would be launched from out of no were, Soundwave had to hand it to Emily, that femme was possessive of her home turf, it got to the point in which Aurora once had to ingest a nuclear bomb in the form of a daffodil which Emily had conjured up to destroy a logging plantation, a _daffodil_! She couldn't stress enough the fact that Emily could've started WW3 with a flower often given to ones carrier on mother's day any more than she already had! Technically all of Emily's traps were meant to only repel humans, but Emily had found the loophole that she was only making the traps, not harming humans themselves.

Not that Aurora could exactly convince Emily otherwise.

Finally she spotted a small fishing village, not many children, lots of adults, perfect, she landed on one of the impressive stone rises which jutted out of the water with sheer cliffs on all sides, once she'd settled into a comfortable position, she set to work.

First she made sure all the children had fallen into deep sleeps, she didn't like messing with children's minds, to her they were organic sparkling's and so she spared them from her fun.

* * *

Ten minutes later

The small village was in absolute pandemonium, men and women alike were screaming as 'demons' chased them through their village, spewing fire and letting off the most blood curling taunts, moans and screams, oh she was having too much fun for her own good!

"It's good to see you having fun Sounada." A voice filled with power said from behind her, Soundwave didn't respond more than twitching at the sound of her old designation, she'd long since left it behind.

She already knew that Liara stood behind her, the Queen of darkness, shadows and death. One does not earn that title lightly, Liara demanded respect from all and Soundwave instantly gave it by lowering her helm to the ground, allowing the 'demons' to fly away. Ending the human's hallucinations. "My queen. I was not expecting you to grace my presence." Soundwave stated as she tried to lower herself lower onto the rocky earth, there was no moon that night, meaning Liara would be impossible to see, not that Soundwave would look at her, only Aurora dared look at her aunt in the eye, as such was the sheer intimidation the ancient Titan put out with her mere presence. There was also the fact that, looking upon a Titan with Liara's power, without permission, meant a very high chance of being wiped off the face of the universe, like a mere insect.

"You know I come and go as I please, I only visit the living this night because I wanted to make sure everything was still on track, Aurora is planning to from now on indirectly aid her adopted sire and his comrades. I will allow it, but you are to remain as you are, if your cover is blown too early Sounada, this plan will fall to ashes. Remember that." The Shadow Queen warned.

Soundwave nodded her helm. "And how are Aurora's biological parents?" She asked.

She heard the Shadow Queen sigh. "There has been no change, they are still lost to us, I am still the only deceased member of our race to be without this foul curse. This plan has to work Sounada, if not, then the Titan's will be forever lost, and we will never have our just revenge on those who did this to us. Something I cannot allow." She growled, something was crushed in the Titan's grip, likely the large boulder which had just been pulled down into its own shadow.

Soundwave nodded. "Only when the plan is complete will we have our ultimate revenge, and my mission will be complete."

"And then you may finally join my niece at her side, as her loyal advisor, and even more loyal friend." The eerie sound of the Shadow Queen leaving even now sent a shiver down the femme Predacon's back strut, the screaming moans which were caused by Liara's departure would always haunt her. Along with her indifferent response.

"Do not worry, the damned are merely being punished for their crimes."

Once she knew Liara was gone she rose, her fun done, her stress relieved and her respect for her Queen strengthened, only Liara could act so cold, yet so… safe, in truth, Liara was the only thing Unicron had ever feared, the great Shadow Queen, the being of death, destruction and endless suffering.

And yet, her wings were always open to give comfort to those who were still aware of her existence, and that was what made Liara truly unique.

Liara was the mother figure for not only Aurora and her siblings, but Soundwave herself, ever since she'd met the Titan of death she'd received nothing but the love of a carrier from her, even if it was hidden deep within her cold nature.

Stretching her wings wide she took to the air, the humans still panicking over what she had inflicted upon their minds, she loved her abilities, how she could twist one's mind like putty in her claws, how she could make them, see, hear and even feel what was not there, it was why Aurora called her 'The mind master' whereas Soundwave called the water guardian 'The puppet master' a nickname Aurora had well earned.

She just flew for a few hours, enjoying the feel of the wind whipping past her wings, she finally couldn't hold it back, she'd been silent for too long, the deep rumble reached her neck cables just as she landed on the towering mountain which stood on the northern side of the Himalaya's, not Everest, but high enough. Finally she reared onto her back pedes, arms raised upwards along with her helm, her neck stretching as she let out the deafening shriek which shook the very heavens, it was only then joined by the sound of the many avalanches caused by her colossal breaking of her own silence, the deep bellowing roar seemed to last forever, until she'd finally ran out of air in her vents, she lowered herself back onto all fours for a moment to regain herself before rearing back so she only stood on her back pedes, the claws gripped the snow-capped tip of the mountains highest peak, her frame more level as she cast her optics across the world around her, her altitude granting her a wondrous view of the world around her.

How Megatron could wish to destroy this planet of infinite wonders was beyond even her understanding, and she did not wish to pry inside his twisted and deluded mind to find out, that was one mind she planned to steer clear of for as long as she could.

Knowing if she was gone much longer suspicion would arise among the crew of the Nemesis, Soundwave shifted into her bipedal form, activating a Ground bridge and walked through, glad no one was there waiting, heading back to her quarters she settled down on her berth, tired after the eventful past few hours, she quickly fell into recharge with Laserbeak and Ravage curled up on either side of her, all five content for now to simply rest.

* * *

 **And done! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, bit more look into the lives of the main cast, and Cliffjumper is finding out first hand what being a Predacon is like, along with how not to judge a book by its cover.**

 **Anyway, anyone want to add anything?**

 **'Silence'**

 **Right, they're all asleep 'dodges low flying spiked tail' Okay Rya, I get it, no more talking, well, until next time!**


	6. Just another ordinaly day in Chaos

**Okay! Next chapter here and ready to go! Quite a bit happens in this one so I hope you all enjoy! Anyone you see here which you don't see in the series and is clearly fictional, belongs to me, now then, on with the chapter and I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 6

The Cavern, Palace of the Titan's

Cliffjumper had been recharging peacefully, his vid projections filled with the cobalt blue femme who held his spark in her servos, he'd all but forgotten of what he now was, where he was, and how Aurora and hers sibling's had made it clear that he was not to contact her until the time was right.

All was peaceful until a heavenly sound reached his audios, countless different sounds melding into one breath taking melody, his optics slowly onlined as he focused in on the sound, it was certainly a good way to wake up.

Rising so he stood on all fours, he stretched out, glossa falling out the side of his mouth in a wide yawn, looking over he noticed one of the walls was actually a giant mirror, the palace was reflective in nature as it was, but this mirror was flawless, no notion of imperfection, and in it, he truly got to see what he looked like while what he now identified as an Orchestra continued to play on from somewhere within the walls of the palace.

He was heavily built, short neck cables held his helm close to his wide and thick chassis. His helm itself was similarly built, a ridged plate sat upon his helm, red arrow strikes ran down toward his neck cables, other than that, his helm reminded him of the Godzilla from the 1998 film he'd once watched with Arcee, he wondered now if Aurora or her siblings had any influence in its creation or not. The only difference really where the two impressive horns which coiled round to face forward, like ram horns if they were partially unfurled.

"Keep staring like that and the mirror will shatter." A snarky voice said behind him, turning as quickly as his form allowed he saw Rya standing there, he looked over her armour for a moment, she looked almost like a Viking shield maiden, focusing back on her faceplates he noticed how her left optic was unfocused and partially glazed over, she really was blind in that optic.

"Oh, err, my bad?" He was still getting used to how this place worked.

Rya rolled her optics in annoyance. "You realise you have a perfectly decent room down the hall right?" She asked rhetorically, a blush instantly tried to burst forth, not that he thought his beast form would allow that.

"There is? I thought all of you nested here." He gestured to the large shallow hole in the ground which was padded with thousands of human sized silk cushions, no wonder he'd recharged like a sparkling.

Rya raised an optic ridge at him again, placing a servo on her jutted out hip. "Cliffjumper, this is the main living room. That's our equivalent of a sofa." She pointed out.

He felt like hitting himself repeatedly. "Then why did you join me?" He asked.

Razor got up from where he was lying and transformed into his bipedal form, the green and blue mech was a goliath in the Predacon mechs opinion, he looked like he could sit on Megatron without even needing to break coolant! "Because everywhere except our rooms are heavily guarded, including this one, we had to be in here so the security sensors didn't pick you up as a threat and blow you to oblivion, they shut down when the sun rises over the surface and turn on when the sun falls on the horizon." He explained.

Cliffjumper tilted his helm. "How does that work anyway, I mean, we're what, twenty, twenty five kilometres underground, how does sunlight even get down here?" He asked.

Rya huffed and Sonic snorted. "Because I created a fireball up there which acts as the equivalent of the sun without roasting us all, Sonson here controls the density of his clouds so that it gives the illusion of night and day, but Aurora's the one who decides when it rains, water's her thing, air's Sonson's, mine's fire, Razor's the earth you walk on, and Emily… well, that's a little more complicated." She explained.

Cliffjumper raised an optic ridge. "Doesn't she control plant life?" He asked.

Rya nodded. "Yes, but… she also controls a lot more, evolution and the natural balance are some good examples, she takes a mouse, and can mutate it into a Hawk with a thought, she can completely screw up the food chain and have the rabbits as killer monsters and foxes, cowardly, hopping lot of red and white breeding machines, she once made a kitten have the same roar as Aurora! Scared her owners to the point they both had heart attacks! Oh but that was a funny sight. The old man did die from it though, and the elderly woman ended up being called a witch and burned at the stake… so yeah… and so began the Salem witch trials equivalent in North Korea fourteen years ago." Okay, that was not what he'd expected to hear, Cliffjumper made a quick note not to annoy the red and green Titan femme, he did not want to be turned into a puppy or something else.

He heard Sonic growl from his left. "Do not call me that." He muttered.

Cliffjumper stood there for a moment, just simply staring at the vain grey and blue Hatze, it was official, Sunstreaker's exact double was standing before them in all his vain glory, they were doomed if the two ever encountered one another.

Shaking his helm he transformed into his bipedal form, it still felt strange to have a form where he had to walk on all fours. "Where's Aurora and Emily?" He asked, tilting his helm to the side, that music was still reaching his audios, and seemed to be reaching for an even louder volume by how his chassis was starting to rattle from the sound waves.

Razor smiled, even with the massive metal stripping dentas visable, the smile was somehow friendly enough not to put the Predacon mech on edge as much as his siblings did. "Emily's in her greenhouse, only the Ancients know what she's doing in there, and Aurora, well you can hear her, but don't, I repeat, don't interrupt her unless she gives the all clear, she hates people watching her and her Orchestra, believe it or not, but Aurora's as shy as a mouse when she isn't all bravado and cryptic." He admitted.

Cliffjumper chuckled. "You mean to tell me, that that femme is shy?! If I know what little I do about Titan's, she should be easily the size of Metroplex!" He chortled.

Rya shrugged. "She's three modern oil tankers long if you want to know. Based off the length of Mont that is, you know, that supersized tanker which was decommissioned a few years back? Meaning she's about… 1375 meters long, that's the equivalent of 18 jumbo jets around about, and, mmph!" She probably would've continued if Razor hadn't placed his servo over her mouth plates, silencing her quickly enough.

"Rya, you were rambling. He's still new to this, give him time." He abashed.

Rya rolled her optics and gave him a playful shove, not that she could do much to the mech, seeing as he was easily four times her height and even more so in weight, and the femme was about the size of Bumblebee! If Cliffjumper didn't know better he'd think that Razor was somehow related to Omega Supreme!

Once free she took a few steps towards Cliffjumper and stuck her servo out, an awkward look on her faceplates. "Look, I'm sorry how I acted yesterday, new faces always put me on edge, you're one of Optimus' men, I should off given you more respect, but I can't help but feel on edge you know. If you want, I'd like to be the one to teach you how to use your element. On one condition, you piss me off, and I'm drop kicking your arse into Mt Etna before you can say shit." The apology absolutely floored him if not making him feel very concerned for his own life, it was then that he looked into her one working optic, it was then that he saw what she really was, scared, the show of anger and aggression was a defensive mechanism, she was the youngest of an extremely powerful group, and who knew what she'd seen, humans weren't the safest group to be around at times.

"Err sure. I'd like that. As long as you don't mind me looking like an absolute fool." He shook her servo, even though it was larger than hers by some amount, Rya's servo reminded him of Arcee's, the thin claw tipped digits gave off an air of being quiet fragile, but by the fact he saw her punch a hole straight through a wall Razor had constructed for her yesterday, he knew it was just a ploy for her enemies to underestimate her, the equivalent of a thirteen vorn old and she was already a skilled fighter.

Rya smirked playfully. "Don't worry, controlling the natural elements is surprisingly easy, now flying? That's the hard part, honestly I'm glad I don't have wings, element form included."

Cliffjumper tilted his helm to the side. "Element form?" He muttered, not sure exactly what it meant.

Emily strode into the room then, a large tree growing out from between her wings, somehow he figured that was normal for her. "An element form is something that happens when you become truly driven to complete a task otherwise seen as impossible, we each have a different form, you'll see them in time, but for now its best you have full control over your element, if you don't and you take on your element form, you will lose control, become unable to shift back, and when that happens, you go out of control completely, everything becomes perceived as a threat and nothing is safe until it has either become your element or has been completely destroyed, alas even after over forty years, I still cannot safely become my element form, Aurora, Razor and a friend of ours are the only ones able to safely take on their forms, Rya can but staying in it for too long can be devastating." The crimson red and forest green femme explained, but one thing perked Cliffjumper's interest.

"A friend? I thought there was only you lot." He gestured to them to emphasise his point.

"Normally, but for now we can't tell you who they are, it could jeopardise their mission and well, Liara would likely kill you if you found out now, in a few months Liara will trust you enough, but for now, you can't know for the safety of them and you. So please Cliffjumper, no more questions about them." Rya explained.

Cliffjumper nodded. "I'm cool with that, oh that reminds me, why do you keep calling mister personality over there Sonson?" He asked, pointing to a suddenly fuming Sonic.

Razor and Rya chuckled whilst a faint blue blush formed on Emily's faceplates. "Funny story actually, and one for another time!" Emily blurted out before her siblings could say anything, Cliffjumper raised an optic ridge mockingly.

"Oh? I'll just have to ask Aurora about that later." He stated, Emily's snow white faceplates actually seemed to pale slightly.

Before the shocked Titan femme could respond he was bolting out of the room, Rya running beside him in her beast form, easily keeping up with his bulkier frame, without even planning it he'd shifted into his beast form, the bellow which followed was full of mirth as Rya honked happily, mirroring his own mirth. "Oh my Ancients! Did you see her face! Oh she is going to murder you Cliffjumper!" She taunted.

It was then that Cliffjumper realised something, now that he saw this side of her, he couldn't help but notice how she shared many of the attributes of himself and his lover, like she was a mix of the two, she was cold when you first meet her, but she becomes more warm and approachable once you get to know her, like a defrosting lump of meat, where that analogy came from he had no idea.

Thundering footsteps came from behind him and Rya cursed under her vent before leaping onto his back strut without warning. "Hold on!" She yelled.

Before he could even respond to her jumping on his back strut, flames had engulfed him, blocking his view of the world, and yet, it didn't hurt, a slight warming of the metal but nothing more.

A moment later, the temperature around him had skyrocketed, he barely had a moment to recognise that before he crashed into something solid, and the world around him went black.

* * *

Soundwave's POV Texas

Megatron, the glitch, had ordered me to go to this human observatory to hone in on the spacebridge, getting in had been easy enough, just release a recharge command to the humans brains and they were out like lights, Laserbeak and Ravage had quickly stuffed them all away so I wouldn't accidentally step on any.

I was currently playing a hacking game with this little human who was a friend of the Autobots, but for this stage of the plan, I couldn't let them succeed, Liara needed the space bridge to implode with Megatron inside, this was the official start of the plan, I personally didn't know how our actions would change the course of this war, not even Aurora was privy to that information, only Liara knew, and we had to trust her, this was for the good of the Titan's, and the Titan's would be brought back to their full glory, and with our combined might, not even The Ancients would be able to stand up against us, Liara alone can defeat Unicron within moments, the entire resurrected race would be unchallenged once again, and they would have their ultimate revenge.

I allowed one of my tentacles to move into the room the three humans were in, I had no intention of hurting them, just making sure I had enough time to lock onto the space bridge permanently, oh, the little Japanese femme gave me her axe, perfect, the oldest didn't seem pleased, his brains output showing he was beyond stressed. Brains, what a strange word… I much prefer Processor, but, who was I to judge?

I didn't use the axe on them though, using my claws or even being in my true form here could jeopardise the plan, so, I cut the main hard-line with the axe, checkmate, I'd won our little game and now, the space bridge can be detonated, I'll have to deal with Starscream taking official control though… scrap, Aurora might just have to get me a full sized replica of that mech to tear apart, the head of this one just popped off.

Hopefully Megatron doesn't stay offline for long, he has Dark Energon in his spark after all.

Yes, I actually just thought that.

I will never forgive Starscream for what he did to me, and, him.

I turned to see the three humans run in, they're actually kind of cute, especially the one I'd been playing the hacking game with, I have to give the youngling credit, being able to keep up with me took skills, when this was all over I think I might just take him under my wing, teach him to be the best hacker the humans had ever seen, yes, I'd like that, it would certainly be an interesting addition to his CV.

The Japanese one, their names, need to get those quickly, ah, the little cutie is Raf, the Japanese, Miko and the stressed out oldest is Jack, anyway, Miko pulled out a small hand held telecommunication device and took a picture of me, flattering, I chose to do the same, taking a quick picture of them, I'll have Aurora give Cliffjumper the pic so that he can see what his old team mates had been up to.

With that done I transformed and shot out of there, no need to stick around for no reason, I didn't need the three any more afraid of me than necessary, after all, I wanted to teach Raf my ways, that wouldn't work if he was absolutely terrified of me now would it?

Now all that was left was to kick back, wait for the explosion, and then send out Laserbeak to locate Megatron's husk in a few days. Liara told us he will be still online, can't have him floating around like space debris forever now can we?

After all, there is no way the humans ain't gonna notice the explosion, it'll be pretty big, I know, I checked, that much energon going against itself is going to be one heck of a fire work show!

Always did like those, humans certainly are creative (and dangerous) with their explosions, Ravage even mutters that humans are crazy pyrotechnics! Not that I'm disagreeing with him, pit, Aurora agrees with me! And Rya is one!

My next job however, was to link Cliffjumpers subconscious with Arcee's so he could explain what Aurora had done, hopefully he'll be able to keep his trap shut, if not, I'll have to pull the plug early, which I can do just as easily, ah, the benefits of having an entire war to practise ones control over the minds of every single sentient being in the universe, and of course being able to control all none sentient technology, Megatron may strive for control, yet I and Aurora are the true masters, they are the puppets, and we are the puppet masters, and the only one who controls us, is Liara, but that will end once the plan is complete, and we will have full control.

Not that our plan is to overthrow Liara, she's planning on retiring from her position once this is over, that's all.

* * *

Palace of the Titan's

Aurora released an aggravated yet tired sigh as she continued to keep an optic on Cliffjumper's comatose frame, the mech had ran full pelt into Rya's bedroom wall after taunting Emily about a simple event from over forty years ago, and now he lay completely out of it on his own large berth, the metal having instantly shifted to give as much support to his frame as possible. "This lot is truly going to be the death of me." She muttered sombrely, just as she said that the doors to the room opened, revealing Rya to be standing there, her posture like that of a child about to be scolded.

"How, how is he?" She asked, looking over towards the Predacon mech, not daring to look her older sister in the optics.

"He will awake within the next few hours, by then the next stage would off begun, we will need him then. You are to watch him as I make preparations to go to the space bridge, Razor's going to be giving me a boost, Rya, if what Liara tells me, a new Predacon will be created before my return, however, unlike our new friend, they will be developing it over time, I need Cliffjumper awake so they can explain everything, Soundwave will link their consciousness's, but we cannot have him give any important information, understood?" She commanded.

Rya saluted like that of an American soldier would to their superior officer, she knew now was not the time to get cocky, Aurora was tense, and a tense Aurora was a dangerous and volatile being to deal with, she had made that very mistake before, and it had cost the lives of thousands of humans around Japan and the surrounding area, albeit it had happened hundreds of years ago, but the tsunami which had been caused, Rya never wanted to see something like that again. "I'll make sure he understands. Err, pardon me asking, but what is that?"

Rya was pointing at the tiny piece of cloth her older sister was holding between two of her devastatingly sharp digits. It looked to be made of some kind of fine silk, but the edges seemed to be constantly shifting, like a thin film of water was trapped between the threads.

"I created this last night, I was unable to recharge sufficiently, so I weaved this, it will hide my entire form from view, but still allow me to see everything going on, it will also shift into other types of accessory fabric when I take the form of an animal. Now, I must go, if there are any problems, tell someone, we do not need a repeat of Pompeii on our servos." She warned as she allowed her younger sister to examine her craft.

It was a hooded robe, the hem exquisitely decorated with thousands of different blue gems, ranging from aqua marine to deep cobalt, the majority was covered in detailed stiches, depicting flowing rivers as they snaked their way towards the hem of the fabric where the water seemed to form and fall away like the rivers really were delivering water to its final destination. "Incredible. Err, how are you getting up there anyway? You can't exactly fly." Rya muttered, not even noticing her sisters last comment, she'd heard it enough times anyway, but the fact that she was going to the stars still arose that question in her horned helm.

"Razor's going to be helping me get up there." Aurora stated.

'In other words, he's going to pick you up and toss you from Mt Everest again.' Rya thought internally.

She handed the robe back, and stepped out of the way as her sister used one of the flower vases to slip away, down into the network, a complex system of links between every piece of their element, Rya and her siblings used them to teleport around the planet, only ever taking a few seconds to get from one side of the planet to the other, it had been quiet interesting when Liara first told them of it.

"Good luck, Ro."

* * *

Space Bridge

Bumblebee had just leaped off the space bridge to save Arcee when she saw it, the human sized form floating next to the femme he saw like an older sisters helm, a bright light seeming to enter into the unconscious femme, his spark gave a furious pulse at the sight, he tried to get its attention, try to get it to leave Arcee alone.

He froze when it turned and looked at him, the face and the rest of the body hidden within the stunningly detailed robe, one of the sleeves was lifted towards the blackness of where the face would be, as if to tell him to be quiet.

He was frozen in awe and shock, his processor barely registering anything.

It all happened in a few tiny seconds, the femme brought a finger, a deadly sharp claw resting at the end instead of the last segment of a finger, and pressed it to where lips would be, two bright blue orbs suddenly lighting up just above, there was no white to them, only a pale baby blue, and the centre a royal blue slit, the gesture signalling that he was not to speak a word of this to any one, a moment later, his arms wrapped around Arcee, and he collided with the form, the form exploded into thousands upon thousands of tiny shards of ice, they floated around him for a moment, until a voice whispered in his audio.

"Two down, nine to go." Then, he was passing through the space bridge, his processor and spark in complete turmoil as to what had just transpired.

* * *

Palace of the Titan's

Cliffjumper was pacing around his room, which he actually really liked, the entire room was styled to fit him perfectly, there was even a complete picture of Arcee hanging on the wall, the rest of the room was styled for relaxation and training, large metal structures, apparently he was allowed to do whatever he wanted to them, punch, kick, even chew! He'd actually tried it, no teeth marks but instead it tasted like one of those human gobstoppers he'd once tried using his holoform, took him eight hours to get through that.

Only instead of sugar, the metal had tasted like copper, something he found was in fact very delicious, sweet with a tangy after taste.

But even that hadn't relaxed him enough for what he was about to do, Rya had explained what was about to happen, knowing what had happened, he knew he had to do this, his love didn't deserve to be left in the dark, and he was allowed to do one more thing, tell her he was still alive, something he hoped she would believe.

"Cliffjumper?" He spun to see Emily standing in the doorway of his room, the Titan femme towered over him much like her identical yet older sister did, but he was surprised to see the look of empathy on the normally wild femme's faceplates.

"Emily! Oh err sorry I didn't notice yah earlier, kinda stressing out. How do I know I'll say the right things?" He asked, hoping the red and green femme might be able to give him advice.

Instead of responding she stepped into the room and sat down on the large berth, built to hold him even in his predacon form. She patted the metal beside her in invitation and he was quick to sit next to her, knowing it was better to be cautious around her, then be a mech without his helm. "You will, you love her correct?" He nodded, choosing not to verbally respond. "Then you will do all that is in your power to make sure she understands her new situation, she may not even notice it at first, but over the coming days she will become more aware of what Aurora had to do to prevent that blast from Megatron from being fatal. All you need to remember is not to say any of our names, where we reside, and who brought you back, you must be cryptic, but you are to tell her what she will become, she deserves to know, you were already dead so we couldn't warn you, but we can warn Arcee. Don't worry Cliff, just keep her calm and explain it to her, she'll understand… hopefully, and if she doesn't the changes which will happen to her frame will make her believe…" She paused for a moment, the silver horns on her helm perking up like she was listening for something he could not hear. "It's time, good luck Cliff, we'll be waiting for you on the other end. And don't worry, the being doing this is a trained professional, you'll be in safe hands." Before he could respond, he felt his conscious leaving his frame, and everything went black for a moment, it was time.

* * *

Arcee's subconscious

Her spark was racing, she couldn't see anything around her, not even her own frame, even crossing her optics proved fruitless, she remembered Megatron shooting her, maybe this was the oblivion all sparks are rumoured to pass through before they enter the well?

But that would mean she was offline, and she hadn't been able to take revenge on her lovers murder, something she had sworn to do mere days before.

But then she remembered the bright light which had followed, and the warm feeling of something flowing around her, seeping through her armour to her protoform, it had made her feel safe, secure and protected, something she hadn't felt for a long time.

The feeling was also strange, something told her whatever was affecting her was ancient, like she was the first one to feel it for trillions of years, it humbled her in a way, but as soon as it had come over her, it had vanished, and she had fallen into this void, and she had no way of getting out to her knowledge, she didn't even know if she had her limbs here!

"Hello?" She whispered, her fear paramount over all emotions, she'd only felt this scared when Arachnid had her, and Tailgate was about to be offline by the monstrous she femme.

She was shocked when she heard someone respond. "'Cee? Is that you?" She'd know that voice anywhere, it was Cliff, she was offline, but he was here, with her.

"CLIFFJUMPER!" She all but screamed, trying to get closer to the voice, to hold him with whatever she could, she tried running, but without anything for her optics to lock on, she had no idea if she was even moving.

He responded, he was still there. "Whoa 'Cee! Easy on the audios would yah? They're more sensitive now." He muttered, but she still couldn't see him.

She almost cried with joy, but she was too focused on reaching him, finally, she collided with something metal, and she wrapped her suddenly reappeared limbs around the strong and slightly wider than she remembered chassis, she tried to look up, only for him to press her into his chassis in a loving hug. "How could you leave like that?" She muttered, banging a closed fist into the side of his chassis, before spreading her servo out and gripping as hard as she could around a piece of his armour.

"I didn't mean to, I was a fool to scout out that Energon alone, I should off waited for you. It's my fault you were put through this. But, I'm not gone anymore, I'm back, alive and kicking. I just… I just don't look the same." She froze, pushing away to look up at him, all she could see where two glowing blue optics, but the centres weren't round, they were slits, wide in the dark but it was clear the edges were thinner than the tops and bottoms.

"What do you mean Cliff? How can you be back? Did Primus give you a second chance?!" She begged, the optics shifted, she could only assume he'd shook his helm.

"No, Primus didn't, someone on Earth did, I can't tell you who, or where I am, I'm not allowed to see you physically yet, please 'Cee, just wait, wait for me, and when we can finally see each other again, I will never let you go, I swear, I swear to every deity I ever heard about in our travels, slag, I'll swear to every human god and spirit if I have to, I will come back to you 'Cee, and when I do, I will never do something that stupid again, besides, we won't be the only ones being reunited with someone they hold dear. But for now, I have to tell you the main reason I'm here." Her spark sung at his promise, she didn't care what he looked like, she'd never care, as long as it was still him in spark, she would always love him.

"I don't care if you were resurrected as a Scraplet, I'll always love you Cliff. Please, at least let me see. I want to see you, not just hear and feel you, I want to see that mech who stole my spark." She begged.

He paused for a moment before yelling. "CAN I?!" She froze, did he really have to ask? Were they being that closely monitored?

A distorted, untraceable voice responded, she couldn't even tell if it were a mech or a femme. "Yes. You may show her." The world around them brightened, and she could see what he had become.

His armour was still the same colour, but his chassis was far more armoured, he looked almost top heavy, his horns were much longer now, twisting at the base so they faced forwards as well as down, reaching to just below his helm, a large dark grey ridged plate sat above his optics and between the two horns, looking like it slid over his faceplates like a battle mask, only unlike Prime's, it seemed to not even allow him to see, the ridges where marked with strips of red, it looked like he really did face problems helm on now, looking lower towards his chassis, she was surprised at how heavily built it was, his entire upper frame screamed that he was built for harsh collisions, his arms were still wrapped around her, and she was pressed too close to his chassis to be able to see what his lower half looked like, but she could see the two wings which were held against his back strut, they looked like they were from a dragon, a stretchy membrane fixed between the bat like supports, and where they peaked just above his helm, two large dark grey claws, hooked to the point that they looked like they could be used in climbing.

It was then that Arcee realised just what he'd become. "You're, you're a…" She couldn't find the words, Predacons had been extinct since before modern Cybertronians ever roamed, they'd existed before even the first thirteen Prime's, and had been driven to extinction by an unknown force not long after the creation of the Cybertronian race, many of them offlining on Cybertron, almost like they'd been drawn there.

"A Predacon? Yeah, it was a pretty big shock to me too, but don't worry about me, when Megatron hit you with that blast… It damaged one of your main Energon lines, you were quickly offlining." He paused, Arcee furrowed her optic ridges, she didn't remember any pain. "The one who did this to me, got to you quick enough for you not to feel it, but to save you… They had to change you, that's why I'm here, Arcee, over the next few human months, your frame will slowly accept the changes, mine was instantaneous because I was already offline, but I know you better than even Prime, your frames gonna fight this, but it'll win in the end, Arcee, to save you, they had to turn your spark into a Predacon spark, it sped up the healing, and the energon lines been completely fixed, they wanted me to warn you, so that you weren't so scared of it, they've slowed it down so that you can prepare for it, but please 'Cee, the quicker you accept, the quicker you can perfect, that's what I've been told…" He paused again, tilting his helm to the side before releasing a sad sigh, before she could even think over what he'd said, he'd pulled her into a processor numbing kiss. "I have to go, they can't keep the link up anymore, they have to focus on something else, don't forget me 'Cee, I won't forget you." He was gone, his frame seeming to melt into a pool of metal, then the metal was speeding away, taking the light with him until the light was no longer visible, only then did she realise he was gone.

"CLIFF!" She screamed, trying to reach him again, but it was already far too late.

Her spark was racing as she once again floated in the darkness, his words finally fitting into place in her processor, a Predacon, to save her, they were turning her into a beast, Cliff already was one, it had been forced upon him, and now, it was being forced upon her.

Suddenly, a mirror appeared in front of her, it looked like one which would hang in an old home from centuries ago, gold wrapped around the oval surface in thick vines of ivy.

And the being that looked back, terrified her, slit optics, knife like denta, her armour sharpened and spiked, and her winglets morphed into wings clearly built for speed.

She looked down at herself, now she could see that what was in the mirror, was a true reflection, here, in her subconscious, the changes were already complete.

"NO!" She gasped, grabbing the mirror and dragging it closer, looking desperately over the mirror to try and find anything left, any smooth edge, any feature which didn't scream Predacon, her digits were far sharper, narrowing into points which could easily pierce through armour.

"No, no, no, nonononononoNO!" She repeated, her spark rate skyrocketing.

She let out a startled grasp, when from where her servos gripped the mirror, cracks began to creep over the surface, until none of her reflection was left, too damaged to give a clear image.

A moment later, it shattered in her grip, the gold and reflective surface drifting apart for a few long moments, almost like everything but her was in slow motion.

She couldn't hold back the force which had been building inside her, she felt her frame transform, but not into her vehicle mode, but into the monstrous form she would become, without even being able to stop herself, her helm reared back, and earth shattering bellow left her vocalisers.

Like a pane of brittle glass, the world around her shattered, falling apart and disappearing into the abyss.

All that was left, was a small figure, laying down it seemed, with nothing else to release her anger upon, she charged, bellowing as she ran on all fours, finding her anger turning to infuriation as she found she was unable to transform back into her bipedal state.

All she saw was red as she launched at the figure, pinning it to the ground.

The figure gave an indignant cry, a shrill squeak and long rasping hiss following shortly after, her vision faded for a moment, and that was all it took to make her realise what she'd pounced upon.

It was a sparkling, cobalt blue in colour, with wide, terrified optics, but what stalled her frame so heavily, was how familiar it was, how the femme sparkling had the same helm design, same winglets.

It was herself, when she was a sparkling.

And her claw was embedded in its abdomen, gold liquid pouring steadily out, yet the sparkling still looked at her, then, it flickered, distorted, before reforming as a small red, blue and purple Predacon hatchling, it had ridged plate, with a single silver and gold horn forming just in front and bending back only slightly before the end.

Yet, as she looked down in absolute horror at the small being, it looked at her in confusion, and… adoration? Love? Nothing was making sense anymore.

"Carri? Don b scar, si wi b hom soo, an he comin hom with aun and un! We gon hav lot of fun! An grea gran aun one remo wi be comin too! Yo don ne t b scar carri. Every gon e oka." The voice was frail and in no way sound with its words, like it was on the very edge of entering the well. "I luv yo carri." Then, the stunning cerulean optics of the little hatchling flickered out, and like everything else other than Cliffjumper, shattered, and drifted away.

A chocked sob broke free from her vocaliser, before her helm rose towards the now white sky, but not in a roar of anger.

But a scream of terror and mortification.

* * *

Autobot base, medbay

Arcee lurched forwards from where she'd been lying on the berth, she would off gone tumbling off had a large black servo not caught her.

"Arcee! Calm down, it was just a bad vid file." Optimus' voice reached her audios.

"Give, me, a, mirror." She whispered.

"Arcee? I did not hear you, are you alright?" He asked again, her patience snapped.

"GIVE ME A PRIMUS FRAGGING DAMNED MIRROR!" She screamed at them.

There was absolute silence for a moment, she was still hunched over herself, her vents erratic.

Finally, a servo she recognised as Ratchet's handed her a reflective piece of steal.

And she stared right into a pair of slit optics.

Arcee's scream ripped throughout the base, it had been no bad vid file, it was real, and something or someone had placed this curse upon her.

But there was one silver lining, Cliffjumper was online then, hopefully, and she would find him, and she would make sure that the ones who put this curse upon them, would never, see the light of day again.

* * *

 **Welp, we're screwed, I pissed off Arcee.**

 **Aurora: Maybe next time you be more careful Cliffjumper**

 **Cliffjumper: Hey! I tried alright! If I'd had more time then maybe I could've explained more!**

 **Soundwave; 'sulking in a dark corner where Cliffjumper can't see her' I tried, I haven't done that in ages and I couldn't keep it up any more**

 **Rya: 'pats Soundwave on the shoulder'**

 **Moon: Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter! Will begin work on Chapter 11 now, welp, until next time!**

 **Moon**


	7. Seeing double, and double again

**Okay!" Chapter 11 is now written! So chapter 7 is here! Like always the characters not from the show belong to me, everyone else, Hasbro, now then, on with the show!**

* * *

Chapter 7

Aurora groaned, her helm resting in her servos, Arcee's reaction just had to be the one they were hoping it wouldn't be. Cliffjumper should've been a bit more tactful, but, this was Cliffjumper they were talking about, it honestly couldn't be helped.

"Hey, at least she doesn't know where we live." Emily stated from where she sat by her sister, the two were currently sitting in the currently quiet music hall which Aurora spent most of her free time in.

Aurora raised her helm out of her servos to level her sibling a concrete cracking glare. "How, how could it be worse? She wants to kill us!" She exclaimed.

Emily shrugged. "As long as we go ahead with this plan of partial intervention, we should be able to at least put us close enough to her good books than her wanting to murder us the moment she sees us isn't as strong, and if that doesn't work, we could always use Cliffjumper as a living shield." She then suggested.

Aurora sighed again before smashing her palm into the back of her sisters neck, aiming for her actually helm would've left her servo impaled, which was something she did not want, she was already crippled enough as it was, she didn't need to lose a large part of her dexterity as well. "That wouldn't go down very well either, it's best to keep going with the intervention, but make sure that they aren't likely to see us, elements only, they're not to see who's controlling them.

Emily simply nodded her helm in agreement. At least until an idea seemed to pop in her head, causing her to vault off the bench she and Aurora had been sitting on, twirling mid-air to face her identical yet far older sister, she still found that strange, a grin worthy of the Cheshire cat splitting her face in two. "I got it! We go see the Quanbi's! I wanna see Kiomo's baby again!" She trilled bouncing up and down excitedly like her pedes had been replaced with springs.

Aurora thought over the suggestion for a moment before nodding. "Alright, we can introduce Cliffjumper to them. Hopefully he'll be able to take it." She muttered.

"Seeing as he hasn't fainted so far, I think he'll be alright." A moment later the far off sound of an explosion occurred, followed swiftly by their latest resident doing a Goofy impression. "Mostly alright."

Aurora rose from the reinforced bench she and her sister had been sitting on. "Very well, let us go and assemble everyone."

"You mean bellow really loudly and almost blow my eardrums out to call them all here, whilst hoping that someone will remember to drag Cliffjumper here in the ensuing stampede?" She joked.

"No, we don't need Razor stepping on him, we are to go to them instead, besides, repairing all the corridors is becoming more and more of a chore than before." Aurora stated back.

Emily gave off a gleeful smirk, she loved bantering her sister. "Only because you insist every wall has to have at least one famous painting made out of gems which must always be in the correct place once put back in down to the very atom?" She continued to taunt.

Aurora snorted. "I like things to stay the way they are." She muttered before walking towards the main doors.

"You mean you're a perfectionist. And a bit of a control freak." Emily shouted across the room.

"Go jump off a cliff!" Aurora yelled back.

"No need! Cliffjumper's got it in his god damn name! He can do it!"

"Why did we even resurrect YOU!?"

Emily faltered for a moment, when Aurora brought that up, it was normally a good time to pull back, but it wasn't just the fact Aurora spoke it, but also the memories which tried yet thankfully failed to overtake her, she didn't need to have another episode right now.

Aurora seemed to realise this at around the same time, her horns lowering closer to her neck cables in distress. "Emily… I-I'm sorry, that was out of line." Before Emily could even call out to her older sister, the large towering white wood doors of the Orchestra hall closed behind Aurora, preventing almost all the sound of her sister walking away from reaching the crimson red and forest green femme.

Emily let out a long sigh. Standing up herself she walked over to the closest of the walls, the snow white marble shinning enough to allow her to look into her own optics, she starred mostly at the bright red which dominated the centre of her optics, the slits narrowing and widening on command and allowing her to focus on the green which surrounded the centres.

She just stared for a moment, before finally muttering. "Why did you save me? Why me, when you could've resurrected any human you wished." She murmured.

"Because Aurora, Razor, Rya and Sonic did not wish to lose another member of their family, not like how they lost him." Emily tensed, the voice of the Shadow queen being the one to answer, the temperature in the hall had dropped significantly, but she'd been too lost to notice.

Emily turned to where the voice had come from, but at no point allowed herself to look up at Liara, she was still incredibly new to the family herself, and she did not yet see herself as worthy to see the great being which she shared now a small part of her biology with. "They still miss him. But why me? I barely knew them… unlike my elders, why me, the spoilt little brat who'd rather read a book then speak to them in their time of grief" She murmured.

Liara let off a sigh. "Because Emily, they didn't care about how you'd treated them before, they just wanted you safe, and with the state your body was in, this was the only other way, and yes, I doubt Rya especially will ever recover from the loss of Ignial, none of them will, but Rya took it the hardest. I wish I could've foreseen what was to transpire. He should not of died that way."

"You can only be resurrected once." Emily muttered, her fists clenching at her sides. "I hate that human, I wish I had been alive then, to rip his heart whilst it still beat from his chest."

Liara released a soft crooning sound. "I know my child, but you know that that would break Aurora's most coveted rule." She seemed to take a step closer, and was about to take another, but had hesitated, the viciously clawed limb returning back to where it had been prior to her moving it.

"All sentient life must be protected, unless for the greater good of all kinds or they have committed a heinous crime, never take a life. Especially humans. But, he had performed a heinous crime! He killed Ignial! During peace time!" Emily remarked after recited her sisters most followed rule, she was allowed to set her traps only because the logging companies where doing incredible harm to the environment, meaning she was allowed to take action which would not allow the blame to be traced to her. Hence the traps instead of her tearing through every piece of illegal logging equipment in the world.

"Very good, also, I think I like the idea of Aurora's partial intervention, you lot do need to get out more often, I think, no, forget it. I will see you soon Emily, stay well, oh, and don't forget to use Indian Taipan venom in your traps, makes the death a bit quicker." The sounds of the damned crept down her back strut as her aunt by adoption and genetic similarity disappeared back into the underworld.

"No matter how many times I hear her leave, it still gives me the creeps." Emily muttered before walking out of the hall herself.

* * *

Autobot Outpost Omega One

Ratchet stared at the monitor, trying to find anything in the data which didn't prove Arcee's claim, none of them could really believe this was happening, but the results on the monitor gave them the clearest cut evidence that Arcee's vision was real.

The results on the monitor where from an in-depth scan of Arcee's spark, but the readings where clearly not Cybertronian, Arcee really was turning into a Predacon.

Ratchet turned to the anxiously awaiting other members of the team, Optimus' normal demeanour had slipped slightly, revealing the worry he felt for the only femme on their team.

"Well? What's the news Doc Bot?" Bulkhead asked.

"Yeah! She turning into some Predabot or what?" Miko exclaimed from the human area.

Ratchet chose to ignore the young human. "The results are conclusive, no matter how much I wish not to believe it was possible. Someone, has been able to alter Arcee's spark in such a way, that the change is, irreversible, none of my own medical expertise would be able to aid us in this, Arcee, by my estimation's, you have only two months until your entire frame is reformatted, and there is no way to fight the process."

 **"** **I think I know who did it."** Bumblebee spoke up, attention instantly landing on the scout.

"Bumblebee? Who do you believe it was?" Optimus asked, placing his far larger servo on the young scouts shoulder plate.

 **"** **It was just before I grabbed Arcee after Megatron shot her off the Space bridge, I don't know who, but there looked to be a human floating above her helm, at least, I think it was a human, they were wearing a blue robe, I couldn't make out any features because of it, but, it was touching her fore helm, and there was a bright glow, I don't think it wanted me to tell anyone because it made a human gesture for quiet. Before I could react, I'd grabbed Arcee, and… the figure, just shattered, into ice. Then I heard a femmes voice say 'Two down, nine to go' I think they were referring to Cliff and 'Cee. And nine others to share the same fate"** He tried to explain, giving all the details he could about what he'd seen, the last part however, was a spoken in an almost haunting murmur.

The group was stunned into silence as they stared at the scout.

Finally, Optimus broke the tense air. "Bumblebee, can you show us what the cloaked figure looked like?" He asked.

Bumblebee nodded his helm, turning on his hologram projector so that the base seemed to almost melt away, being replaced with endless space.

They watched as what Bumblebee described happened before them. "Pause it here." Optimus commanded, having found a moment where he could look at the being closer, Arcee too walked closer to the figure, starring at the culprit of what she was becoming.

Optimus however, could only stare on in shock, the colours, they matched perfectly with his own adopted creation, he glanced over to Ratchet; the medic seemed to of come to the same conclusion.

They were her exact colours, and to their knowledge, she was the only being other than them or the Decepticons who could possible survive in space without any form of actual protection. "Arcee, Bumblebee, there is a possibility that the one who did this, was my daughter."

The world seemed to come to a screeching halt as the words were spoken, Arcee spun on the heel of her pede so quickly she almost fell over from her own momentum. " ** _WHAT_**!" She screeched.

Optimus showed no sign of being startled. He waited until he had their undivided attention before beginning, all three of the younger members of his team did not know of Aurora after all. "Her designation is Aurora, and she is the last living Titan." Instantly Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead started asking questions, wanting to know how any of this was possible.

"What's a Titan?" Raf spoke up, gaining the 'bot's attention.

Ratchet was the one to answer him. "The Titan's where an ancient race of beings, famous across the universe for their incredible size, the largest ever recorded from helm to tail tip, could've easily wrapped around your planet. The legends which surround their kind claim that they were beings of immense power and intelligence, being the first ever civilisation to develop in recorded time. It is also rumoured, that they were created during the Big Bang, as your human scientists call it, which created the universe itself, or possibly, they came from the time before, but they did become the guardians of the very universe as a result. What they are equally famous for, is not how they lived, but how they vanished. Back then, they were the only beings who documented anything, from what our historians could discover, their entire civilisation seemed to suffer a catastrophic collapse in social structure, and in only a few human decades, their entire race was wiped out, the most ancient, wise and most powerful creatures that were not considered gods, gone, in a fraction of an astrosecond in comparison to the scale of their rein. It was believed that all was lost when it came to their kind, until the most incredible discovery was made." Ratchet explained, the humans seemed to be stunned at this revelation, the CMO turned to Optimus to continue.

"An un-hatched Titan egg was discovered under the remains of Titan, whose very frame had solidified into rock, creating the black mountain ridge on the Planet Irisesan. To all of the scientific community's surprise, the foetus inside, was still alive, but no matter what method they tried, it would not get it to hatch and they could not break through the shell. This, is where I come in, before the war, I had been aiding my mentor, Alpha Trion, clean the cabinet which had held the egg for over seventy vorns. I went to pick it up, but when I did, the egg began to shake, pulsate, and most importantly, crack. Before our very optics, the egg hatched within my servos. And Aurora was born." He explained.

Arcee shook her helm. "I don't understand, why wasn't the public alerted to this, why are we only learning about this now?" She demanded, Bumblebee and Bulkhead nodded their helms in agreement.

Optimus took an almost inaudible vent. "Her hatching was kept secret for her safety, if every mech and femme on Cybertron were to know about her, her life would've been in constant peril, either from hunters and collectors wanting to bag the catch of the era, or from those wishing to use her species attributes and strength. When the war broke out, we realised the threat on her life had become even greater, fearing for her very safety, we jettisoned her from Cybetron, only an orn before Crystal city fell, which had been where we were keeping her, hidden in a subterranean bunker." The three Autobots and even the humans seemed to understand the gravity of what he said now.

Bulkhead spoke up then. "Then how come you think she's here?" He asked, pointing towards the ground to make his point that bit clearer.

"Because for the first few hundred years she roamed this planet, she unknowingly wore a piece of my spark around her neck, which I'd planned to use to track her when the time was right. However, I had not anticipated that it would be stolen from her, and ever since, I have not known of her location, that image, is the first sign I've found that she is still here, they are her exact colours, and the fact that Titan's could traverse the emptiness of space itself, means that it is likely her in this image. Her size though, surprises me." He stated.

Ratchet spoke up then. "Optimus, have you forgotten the node in her processor which I discovered?" Optimus looked to him in surprise, clearly having forgotten that. "Out of curiosity I performed a great deal of scans on that area, and I do believe it acted similar to our T-cogs, it allows her to shift her very mass, altering the very density of her form, and allowing in theory, alter her shape. I hypothesise that a Titan's immense size was also a limiting factor, and that they evolved a method of altering their size and shape so that more complicated and minute tasks could be completed, seeing this, I believe that she has fallen under the influence of how common the Humans are, resulting in her taking a similar sized form so that she may be able to more easily interact with them." He tried to explain.

Jack spoke up then. "Optimus I say this without the intention of causing any offense, but if she's been around so long, why is only now the first evidence you've seen of her being here? I mean, surely she would've left something in history? Done something that would be recorded?" He suggested.

Optimus shook his helm. "You underestimate her Jack, even with the equivalent age of a one vorn old, she was well aware of the war and the danger she was in, I assume that she has been hiding herself, keeping herself from the grasps of those who wish to harm her." He stated hoping that he was correct in his assumption and that she was just not aware that they had arrived on Earth, but that would contradict the image he saw now.

Miko spoke up then. "What does she look like then? You got a picture or something of her?" She asked.

Before Optimus could even react Ratchet had drawn a data pad and brought up the image of Aurora, sitting in the escape pod, with her sires digit tip held in her mouth.

Arcee frowned however. "I don't like this one bit. You're all looking at this like this is the cause, but for all we know, she's already offline from some stupid action she performed, her kind may have been civilised but that in no way means that she was by default." She hissed, her mood in no way improved since when she woke up.

That comment however, seemed to do something to the Prime, he tensed, armour actually flaring slightly as his servos clenched, they were all quick to notice the change, and just as quickly stepped away when his crimson red and royal blue armour began to rattle, Optimus Prime, was shaking, it was something which caused fear to sliver its way to each and every one of their cores fearing that the Prime would spontaneously combust.

Thankfully that did not happen. With dentas clenched he growled out. "She is not offline, my daughter cannot be offline, and I refuse to believe anything else. My daughter is no fool Arcee, she would not act so idiotically as too allow herself to offline, not when I have been unable to hold her in my arms again, I do not care how large she is, or if she had to leave the planet due to her size, I will find her, and I will look after her like any sire should, with love care and support. So do not dare try to sow such doubts within my own processor when it comes to the chances of her survival." He all but growled out.

All others present just stood there, frozen in shock that Optimus had even spoken in such a threatening tone towards one of his own soldiers. Before they could even collect themselves, he'd transformed and driven at high speeds out of the base.

It was a few minutes later before they snapped out of their self-respected shocks. **"What the slag was that?!"** Bumblebee exclaimed, both referring to Arcee's comment and Optimus' reaction.

Arcee shook her helm. "I was just stating a likely possibility; I hadn't expected him to get so defensive of her, a new born Titan on an unknown planet, not even counting the fact that practically half of everything on this planet could kill her!" She didn't mention the last part that came to her processor, not wanting to offend the three humans present.

Ratchet shook his helm. "Arcee, you know nothing of her bond with Optimus as well as a Titan's anatomy, it is almost impossible for something on this planet to kill her. To my knowledge, there is very little which can even slightly harm a Titan, at least without coming off worse off than the one being attacked. But firstly Aurora means more than you could ever imagine for Optimus. You may not know this, but Optimus is actually unable to produce offspring." He knew this was very private information, but they needed to know to understand the depth of their Prime's dilemma.

Bulkhead sputtered. "What do yah mean Ratchet?" He asked.

Ratchet let off a quiet sigh. "Optimus was sparked without the ability to create his own, he is to put it simply, infertile. Because of this, Optimus never tried to find a mate, knowing he would just make it harder to generate a family. That was when Aurora came into his life and imprinted upon him. I can only imagine what he felt when he realised what that meant, Aurora gave him the chance to be a sire, to raise one who considered him as their sire. Before the war, he never left her anywhere, taking her with him in his hold wherever he went. At the time I'd been unaware to her hatching, but it was hard not to notice the sheer joy he seemed to radiate, and it turns out, Aurora was even in his chassis the day he spoke to the High Council. As well as being there when he became the last of the Prime's. When he sent her into space, it was clear to see the effect it had on him, it wasn't until he announced to the whole base that she was safe did he recover slightly from the depression he'd fallen into. And now? We have the first possible evidence that she is somewhere out there, and you go and make a remark about her likely being offline, in my opinion, Optimus had every right to react as such." He berated Arcee, making sure she got the point he was trying to make.

Arcee looked shocked at the revelation; she cast a glance towards the exit of the base along with the rest of the group.

None of them noticing the Rock Python which had heard everything, a green and blue piece of fine silk clasped just behind the head.

'Hmm, Ro should probably hear about this… or… knowing this will make it even harder for her to stay away… probably best to keep this to myself then." Razor thought to himself before slithering along the metal supporting beam, his form becoming one with the wall of the silo as he teleported back to South Africa.

* * *

Optimus let off an aggravated sigh as he eased himself down against the side of a medium sized cave, he'd discovered it some time ago when he'd needed to get away and think for bit.

Inside he was furiously berating himself, how could he have acted like that, in front of his own team, yes Arcee had made an uncalled for comment, but in truth the femme was currently going through a lot, what with losing Cliffjumper, only to then be visited by him and have what he told her about her becoming a Predacon being truthful. It was enough to put anyone on edge and he could only assume that the cobalt blue femme had made the comment as if to try and vent her frustrations on one who was not present.

But the fact that it was his missing daughter who took that jab hit something within him, it had caused the burning embers which had remained within him since her departure, to shift into that of a raging inferno, to assume his daughter was offline without even knowing how capable she was, not only caused assumptions that she wasn't safe on this planet, but also it meant she doubted his choice, on what was best for _his_ daughter, and that was what had put him over the edge.

"Meow." Startled by the sudden sound, his helm snapped down, focusing in on the small form of a domesticated feline, one blue and one green slit eye looking up at him.

A quick search told him it was a Devon Rex, it couldn't really be classified as anything else, the feline was mostly white, with medium sized pale grey patches on the cat's front half of the main body, before being replaced with streaks further down, the legs remaining completely white along with the head. There was also the fact that the cat was without a collar and looked malnourished.

Optimus shuttered his optics in confusion, what he'd seen on the internet quickly for the animal was that this species was a house cat, and rarely survived long in the wild. This one had likely escaped from a breeder some time ago by the fact it was without a collar. "What are you doing here small one?" He asked, lowering his servo down so that the cat could smell him.

He was surprised when the cat placed its attention on his smallest digit, the one Aurora had taken the tip off, the cat meowed again, before sniffing where the nanites had long since repaired the damage, a light purr broke from the cats form before it leapt up and curled up in the Prime's palm, seemingly completely at ease with being there at the moment.

In all honesty it floored the Prime, until a thought reached him. The cat was by the looks of it, starving, and cats where apparently known for being extremely crafty, she, he assumed it was a she, was likely trying to get close to him, in hopes of being fed a few scraps.

He had to admit it was working, his previous frustration all but gone, the Prime rose to his pedes and left the cave, being careful not to startle the cat as he transformed, only to find the cat completely fine with all the moving parts around it and how it had suddenly wound up in the passenger seat, in fact, the cat seemed to fall asleep right there and then!

If he'd still been in bipedal form he would've shook his helm in disbelief, this cat was far too trusting to be normal.

* * *

Western Mongolia

"Welcome to Cavern Two!" Emily cheered as she jumped high into the air, a maniac grin on her face as she began to cartwheel down the pristine white and black marble patched road, acting almost like a runaway wheel as she picked up speed as the road continued to drop.

Rya chuckled at Cliffjumper's expression. The mech really needed to get used to expecting the completely unexpected. They hadn't told him anything when they teleported him here, they'd decided to blind fold him for the journey, the network and what they were standing in front of now would've been too much for the mech in one day, so they saved the network for another time.

Not saying a word, the Dracorex, Spinosaurus and Hatzegopteryx all took off after Emily, who had shifted into her giraffe form, the red with green patches mammal was happily bellowing as she ran down towards their destination.

The only one to stay by the Predacon mechs side was Aurora, Harp securely wrapped around her wing bases. "It leaves you speechless doesn't it?" She asked mockingly.

Cliffjumper was only just able to pull his optics away from what he honestly couldn't believe his optics where showing him. His vocalisers failed him and all he could do was point a shaking servo in the direction the rest of the group was going, his mouth plates hanging agape as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing.

Aurora chuckled. "Cliffjumper, welcome to Quylata. The city of the unchained." She declared, sweeping her arm out towards the futuristic city which reminded Cliffjumper so much of the Golden age he was practically seeing double. "A place where my people live in peace. Come." She placed a reassuring servo on his shoulder, guiding him towards what looked like the main entrance of the bustling city.

Even when they'd entered the glowing city, Cliffjumper still couldn't get over the shock of what was going on around him.

Humans dressed in skin tight clothes bustled around their feet, chatting amiably with those around them, each one having some sort of fabric billowing out behind them, be it attached to a headband, making them look like backwards veils, around the collar so it acted like a large cape or around the waist.

The colours themselves seemed to be alive as they continued to move down the incredibly wide roads.

One thing that only then did he notice, was that there was no cars, instead, giant metal versions of animals. And these humans where riding them to get around, some ran around them, the smaller ones darting between humans with ease carrying at maximum two humans. Whilst larger ones seemed to act like mass transport, he spotted at least forty riding upon the back of a large elephant one. There where ones who flew high in the sky like the birds and insects they resembled, and there where even fish! The fish shooting past at high speed through large high pressure glass water pipes. There was also those which looked like hybrids between multiple animals, a four winged beaked snake thing had just flown past, letting out a screech as the rider was forced to take evasive action to avoid flying into a Pelican.

Finally he found his voice. "What the slag is this place!" He exclaimed, looking up at the Titan femme, who simply bared a proud smirk.

"This is mine and thousands of refugee human's labour of love. You are aware of the Lost city of Atlantis yes?" She asked.

Cliffjumper nodded his helm, yes he'd heard of it… She couldn't mean.

"This is where they went, you'll get the full story in a, bit first we need to get to the Quanbi residence, my siblings are already there. Come, we will get there faster in our beast modes." With that said, she began to transform, Cliffjumper's optics widened further when he found himself looking at what he assumed was Aurora's own Predacon form.

She was a quadruped like he was, her wings held close to her sides and helm held high atop an s-shaped neck, her tail swayed from side to side high above the human's heads due to the distance off the ground her four limbs gave her. Her helm itself was adorned with a great deal of horns, all of which looked to end in the sharpest of points. If he'd thought her bipedal form had screamed danger, this form was bellowing it through a megaphone for the world to hear, at the top of the busiest city in the world, he wasn't sure which one though.

Not wishing to annoy her he shifted into his own Predacon form, only a moment later and Aurora was already moving at a brisk trot away from him, yet somehow she'd not yet stepped on a single human.

He was quick to follow. But stayed that bit behind as Aurora's speed just seemed to keep increasing, before he knew it, he was having to all out gallop to keep up with the much larger Predacon in front of him, the humans parted as they continued to run, this had to be the strangest thing he'd ever done!

Running through a densely populated city, full with humans none the less, in the body of a Predacon in its beast form, as well as having to dodge giant metal animals almost as big as he was (and quite a few smaller faster ones which seemed to appear out of nowhere)! And all the while trying to keep up with his Prime's lost daughter who's frame was acting more like a snake, gliding around sharp corners with seemingly no effort at all, all the while he was struggling to not go careening off into whatever building sat on the other side of the turn!

It just showed that unlike him, she'd had a lot more practise than he had.

If he was allowed to speak to his love again, she'd likely think he'd lost his marbles if he told her about this place, not that they'd allow him to anyway.

Finally after hundreds of near misses with the skyscrapers he now realised where made out of either crystal of some type of polished marble, really, what was it with this lot and polished marble?! Finally Aurora began to slow down.

"Good agility, but could be better." She said when they finally came to a brisk walk, not even turning her helm all the way round to see him.

Cliffjumper on the other hand, felt like his spark was going to give out. "Why, didn't we just fly?" He asked, venting hard to ease his overworked systems.

"Three reasons, one, I do not believe you are adept at flying seeing as we have yet to teach you how to do so, secondly, the people here are air hogs and you'd be knocked out of the sky within the minute, and three, I… cannot fly." Her voice dropped to a mere whisper at the last point, but Cliffjumper still heard her loud and clear.

"What? Don't tell me that Predacon… grounded you?" He asked.

Aurora shook her helm. "It was not the Predacon who fully crippled me, yes my wings had been injured, back then, but they'd been recovering well, but were a clear weakness to any and all who wished to place harm upon me, they were almost fully healed, but, let us just say a giant spiked ball of steel smashing into them, erased all of the work, and resulted in how I am now. It will heal again, but ever since the 15th century, I have been all but grounded. Razor, Rya and Sonic were in no way pleased with that." She admitted, tucking her wings that much closer to her sides.

Cliffjumper chose not to ask what had happened, it was clearly a painful subject for her, and being unable to fly for such a long period of time had clearly taken its toll. It would also explain why Harp was always there bracing them.

He'd only been given a glance the first day he was with this group, but that was all he needed to know it was a gruesome injury.

"We are here." He'd been so lost in his own thoughts he hadn't even realised they'd arrived at what could simply be called a human house about the same size as Omega One, the outside that is.

"Err, one family lives in this?" He asked, noticing how Aurora, even with her helm held high, easily fit through the front door, the way she walked just seemed to scream upper class, the way she kept her helm level and posture refined, all of it just seemed to give her an air which made him honestly want to fall into a submissive pose, like an Omega wolf to its Alpha.

But that was what Aurora was, she was the Alpha of the group, and at current standings, he was the lowest in the pecking order.

"Yes, but they are a very large family, a total of two hundred and seventy six live here with six generations in total residing here. Cliffjumper, it is wise you enter before the Paparazzi arrive, they are likely already on their way." He didn't need to be told twice, moving at a brisk walk through the front door.

He really shouldn't off expected anything less.

* * *

Three hours later

Before he could even react, the new bane of his existence once again smashed into his helm, how, how can a lady turning one hundred and seventeen, be able to hit like a Champion Baseball player?!

Rya snorted from where she lay next to him in front of the giant Cybertronian sized table, laden with mini mountains of human food, one the side he laid upon resided all of those he'd been living with the past few days, whilst on the other, the largest human family he'd likely ever seen.

Six generations, two hundred and seventy odd present.

"Behave young man, we are not to eat until Malidina says so!" The hundred and seventeen year old, warmly referred to as 'Elder' although her name was actually Edith, chastised as she used the giant metal hummingbird she rode upon to return to her own side of the table, the piece of reinforced obsidian in the shape of a staff held high above her head.

He looked to Aurora as he used his front left paw to rub his helm, she was looking at him from the one optic which faced him, it was still unnerving to him how he couldn't see forward easily whilst in beast form. "What?!" He asked.

"Elder knows best Cliffjumper. A word from the more experienced in this situation, observe, and only speak when spoken too, Elder packs a mean whack with that thing." She stated, using her optic to gesture to the old woman's walking stick.

Cliffjumper nodded his helm. "I'll take that into consideration. I take it this is the head family of the city or something?" He asked.

Rya shrugged. "You could say that, this family has created the greatest warriors, athletes and musicians of the modern age in Quylata, and due to how life works here, that's pretty important. Meaning they are also the most well respected, and, I hooked Elder up with her deceased husband, bless his soul, passed about a decade ago now, she still forgets sometimes and starts talking to air, but never call her out on it, got it?" She stated sharply.

Emily peaked her own helm around from the other side of her near identical sister. "Relax Cliff, this is a meal to celebrate the birth of Kimomo's first baby! Also, I was banned from entering the kitchen, so nothings been tampered with!" She claimed.

"Tampered with?" Cliffjumper muttered, looking over towards Razor, who was eyeing up a lump of beef brisket like he hadn't eaten in a month, it had come as quite a shock to him when he found out that he could now ingest any mater and use it for fuel, all of Aurora's group did it, actually avoiding Energon to leave more for the Autobots, something he was thankful for, he hadn't actually seen any of them eat yet, other than Rya that is, but something told them, that the mountain of roasted chicken in front of him, which actually towered higher than Aurora's own helm, wouldn't last long, especially with the extra two hundred and seventy odd mouths on the other side of the table.

Razor looked over to Cliffjumper, his attention drawn away from his meal. "You haven't been around long enough to really know, but Emily has this unhealthy habit of messing with anything she can get her claws on, she's made a lot of weird things in her time, and a lot more than we'd sometimes like to admit, have been a little too dangerous." He admitted

Sonic huffed from Emily's over side. "And that's why we built her that Green house, a piece of advice from one who has had to enter that place, never set foot there, only Emily and Aurora can leave that place unscathed, mostly because they'd never hurt their 'mother' and Aurora's the one who supplies their water. Razor can sometimes get in there, but any longer than an hour and he comes out missing at least one piece of armour." He stated firmly before disappearing back out of view, likely to continue preening.

Before he could ask any more questions, a voice rang out from the end of the table on his right side, turning he found himself looking as a woman who seemed to be about forty years old, her charcoal black hair cut short to her neck and reminded him of a noble woman from Ancient Egypt.

"Alright everyone! Today we are here to celebrate birth of Kiomomo's first child, a healthy young boy! Now before we begin, it is time to name him!" She called out, before gesturing towards their side of the table. "As well as the designating of who shall be his God Parent!" She called out. Something told him this was Malidina

Cliffjumper turned his attention back to the rest of the humans, now that he had a chance to look closer, he found the robes they wore seemed to be a mix of the two styles of ancient Roman and Egyptian clothing, the upper part of the robes being slightly baggy and hanging off on one or both shoulders, whilst everything under the torso where tight dresses for the women and floor length Arabian styled clothing for the men. A mismatch of different cultures clothing which worked surprisingly well together.

"Can someone please explain to me what this place is, who all these humans are, what all those metal animals where and how in the name of Primus you've been able to keep this place a secret?!" Cliffjumper asked, looking around the giant room.

Emily gave off a light snort. "Patience young Grasshopper, all will be revealed in time." She stated coyly.

Cliffjumper narrowed his optics at the crimson red and forest green femme. "You have no idea how much I want to hit you right now." He muttered.

"I get that a lot." Emily responded with.

"And don't we know it." Rya huffed.

* * *

Nemesis

Soundwave released a small vent from behind her visor as she stepped out of Medbay, Megatron's frame had already been put on life support and the Medic Knockout had already been contacted, but for now they could do no more to help him. Not that she wanted to, but his survival was unfortunately, necessary.

"Ah, Soundwave." She halted in her movements and turned to look at the seeker, one she wished whose existence wasn't necessary.

'He seems to be weary of me, good, my little show with the stress reliever put him on edge.' She thought internally.

"How, is the patient?" He asked.

She knew she couldn't talk without blowing her cover, as always, so she just sent a simple written report of their 'master's' condition.

"Hmm, this is much appreciated. Now, I must go address the masses, after all, until our master recovers, as his SIC, I must take up the mantle as ruler of the Decepticons." He stated smugly.

Oh how much she currently wanted to strangle the son of a glitch!

'Pompous idiotic son of a fragging scraplet!' She hissed internally.

But on the outside she simply turned and walked away, all the while her processor was trying to feed her delicious images of how she could destroy his mind, oh how tempting that was.

Entering her berth room she allowed herself to shift into her true bipedal state, allowing her wings to flex behind her and dual forked tails to lash about, the two tails where styled much like the tentacles which came from beneath her chassis only reached a far greater length if she wished to extend them completely.

Laserbeak detached from her chassis and flew over to one of the few shelves in the room, having assumed her own true state, which resembled something closer to a hawk over that of a drone.

Ravage purred low in his own chassis as he rubbed up against her pede, welcoming her back into their domain.

She couldn't help the smile that formed on her faceplate as she leant back against the wall of her room and allowed Ravage and Laserbeak to take their places upon her.

Resting her helm as far back as her blade like horns would allow, absently rubbing her chassis, feeling the two little sparks within kick in response to her gesture.

"They are progressing well I see, soon they'll be ready to be laid Sounada." She'd been so lost she hadn't even heard Liara come, which is normally impossible with all the screams and cries of agony which normally come with the package of the Shadow queens visits.

She couldn't stop the chuckle. "Wouldn't Aurora be shocked when she finds out." She stated.

Liara chuckled right along with her. "As was I when you asked if there was a way you could have little ones of your own. You certainly through me for a loop." She rumbled.

Soundwave nodded. "And you returned the favour by giving me twins. I just hope their first carrier won't mind." She muttered.

"Sounada… they are your little ones now, their mother perished in the early stages of our extinction, all that will be the same as their original creators will be the possible elements they will become. In every other way of looking at it, they are yours, you are the one to hold them now, and you will be the one to raise them. You deserve it, for all you have done to help myself, and our cause, and I am certain you will record Aurora and her sibling's reactions for many generations to watch when you tell them the news." She stated, Soundwave felt the deceased Titan place a ghostly paw on her shoulder. "Sounada, I give you permission to see my face."

Soundwave felt her furnace flicker and her processor whir in shock. Liara… had just given her permission to… Only Aurora was allowed to look at her.

Tentatively she raised her helm, looking into the Ancient Titan's eyes for the first time.

They were pitch black, with thousands of flecks of white and a multitude of other colours, making Soundwave feel like she was looking into two different galaxies.

Before she could take in anymore details, she bowed her helm again, she should not off seen that, to look upon a Royal Titan was like spitting in their eye.

"Sounada, I gave you permission." Liara had a slight tone in her voice which suggested frustration. She released a small sigh. "You do not believe you are worthy, very well, when you finally believe you are worthy, you will still have my permission. Now, rest my friend, with Starscream in charge for now, you will need all the rest you can get." She felt the Shadow Queen's paw leave her shoulder and listened as she once again faded into the shadows, the damned once again calling out in agony for a few moments before she was gone completely.

Ravage and Laserbeak looked to her. _"All will be well, Liara won't let anything too bad happen."_ Ravage tried to console her over the bond, she responded by rubbing him between his audios, elating a purr from him.

"Thank you Ravage. Let us get some rest." She felt the little ones inside her kick in agreement, soon, soon she would be able to see what her little ones looked like. She often wondered which gender they would be, seeing as letting anyone else know of her carrying was an absolute no-no.

Laserbeak and Ravage didn't respond verbally, choosing to snuggle down close to Sound's chassis, where they could hear the faint chitters of the two hatchling Predacons growing within her.

Within minutes, all three where in deep recharge, only ever disturbed when one of the two decided to kick, not that any of them minded that is.

* * *

 **And there we go! Arcee got a telling off, Optimus has a pet, There's a giant City of the future under Mongolia, filled with a lot of stuff which will be explored in later chapters, and yep! Sound's with sparkling's!**

 **Guys?**

 **Cliff: You just love tormenting me**

 **Moon: guilty as charged**

 **Rya: I'm having fun**

 **Sonic: You would**

 **Aurora: Enough you two, no need to start anything**

 **Emily: But they didn't even start anything?**

 **Aurora: I was just taking precautions.**

 **Soundwave: Best way to stop an argument is to prevent it from occurring**

 **Aurora: Thanks Sound, now then, until next time readers!**

 **Moon: Hey! That's my thing!**

 **Aurora: Well today, it's my thing**

 **Moon: Damn Titan**


	8. A really long day

**MERRY CHRISTMAS! Just wanted to go out and say it ;p, now then, another chapter completed, and so, this one is to be posted! Yay!**

 **The usual stuff, anyone not seen is Transformers Prime belongs to me, everyone else is Hasbro's, well, hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 8

England, two and a half weeks later

"You're pulling my pede Liz." Aurora stated, looking at the elderly woman like she'd grown an extra few heads.

The Monarch shook her head. "I'm not and you know it, Liara told me that you needed to get out more, and what better way then you taking this job? Besides, it means you'll be close with the Royal family, so, we can protect your identity, do you approve, Lady Rosella Tiamunia?" She asked, using the Titan femme's old alias.

Aurora rolled her eyes for a moment before shaking her head. "I still don't know how you remember that. But from now on, it's Rosaline Tinuma" She muttered firmly.

"Will you take the job then?" Elizabeth persisted, hope filling her voice.

Aurora released a sigh before reaching out her clawed hand and shaking it with that of the elderly woman's, being careful not to cut her with her claws. "I accept, I'll take my role as chief advisor of the Royal family, and retake my mantel as political negotiator for the British government again. Maybe even take up my role in the secret service." She stated.

Liz smiled. "MI5 dearie. It only took seventy years. But, one should always be given time to mourn. Now then, let's get you more… how should we say, properly dressed for the modern age?" She stated, looking the seventeen year olds attire up and down with a keen eye. "Skin tight may be quiet popular, but in this line of work it is frowned upon, come, Kate should have some stuff you can borrow for now, you're only two, three feet over her height." Elizabeth stated, leading the Titan femme out of the room and down the empty corridor, she'd alerted the staff that she had a guest coming and they were not to be disturbed, it was acceptable however if the world was ending, then a disruption would be forgiven.

* * *

Half an hour later

"I'll wear this one." Aurora finally stated, after being passed what felt like hundreds of dresses and business suits by Kate, the thirty three year old woman had been told of Aurora's unique position and had been eager to help, her husband William was currently off in Spain on a visit and her two children where currently being watched over by their nanny's.

Elizabeth smiled to her granddaughter in law. "Perfect, but I advise you get some shopping of your own done, I advise Harrods, they have an exquisite range." Kate suggested.

Aurora nodded her head, moving into a large bathroom to change.

She froze however when she found herself staring directly at herself in a mirror.

She placed the clothes she'd chosen on a small white marble table before focusing solely upon the mirror, yes she saw her reflection every time she was within the Palace of the Titan's, but here and now, she stood as she would once she was fully changed, it scared her in truth, how she could put on such a façade, how she could become anyone, and how she could use her abilities for both good, and evil. Something she refused to fall into. She was the daughter of Optimus Prime, not some lowlife.

But after all that she had witnessed in her life, the eternal battle between who she truly was, and who everyone believed she was, her true self was beginning to lose, and she was afraid that she would lose who she once was, that little hatchling, who'd promised herself to never change, so that she and her sire could go back to being just that.

But that promise had long since been broken.

"How many masks, does one have to wear, before the mask becomes them?" She muttered the old line, one she'd thought off during her time in the First World War, when she had to place upon herself a fearless face for the troops, ever since that mask hadn't really come off.

And now, she was about to put on a whole new one.

Releasing a sigh she looked over her figure, she was well endowed in her assets, wide curved hips and bosom, lithe long legs and arms with enough power to stop a runaway locomotive in its tracks. Her face was well formed as well, small yet powerful nose, ears which had the slightest of points at the top, eyes which could bore into ones soul almost like they could steal away the life essence of another, plump lips which had whispered so many partial truths, so many well woven lies to hide ones true self from curious passer-by's, they could be referred to as that of a snake.

The only major abnormality, was her abdomen, the lack of any internal organs there resulting in a less than human circumference, something she would have to change.

Within moments she set to work, her eyes lost their slits, forming into wide doe like pale green irises, her lips once electric blue turning a deep rouge, her hair, normally a wild mane of well-kept blue, now filled with flowing black waves, her abdomen extended outwards, being filled with extra muscle to give her a more human look, the second joints of her legs snapped together, removing the joint entirely, claws and horns recede back into her bones, the claws being replaced with well-trimmed nails all the while the blue scales which covered most of her form also seemed to melt away under lightly tanned skin, the last to disappear from view being her crippled wings and tail, the tip of the scythe like blade on the end of her fifth limb clanging once against the marble floor before vanishing completely, a small pool of water forming there where the blade had tapped the ground, which she quickly levitated into the sink so that she didn't leave a mess.

Finally it was complete, opening her eyes she found herself staring at a completely different person, one made for grace and royalty.

She looked over to her new attire, only for the day would she remain like this, then, when she was free at home, she would remove this mask.

Turning to the clothes she set out she began to change, honestly she'd not worn anything other than this one style for the last seventy years, it was almost like it had become a second skin, one she would now have to shed quite a bit more.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later

Kate and Elizabeth turned from their conversation when Aurora stepped out, wearing an eggshell blue knee length dress which was held on the shoulders by two straps of slightly darker blue as they wrapped round her neck, forming a second cross at the back, the dress was partially covered by a long sleeved pale grey jacket made out of fine silk, the material now decorated with two sea serpents, one on each sleeve as they coiled upwards towards the shoulder, the jacket was cut short to her midriff so not to hide the dark blue sash which was wrapped around the dress. She was wearing a pair of dark grey one inch heels and a dark blue wide rimmed sun hat to finish the look.

Kate blinked her eyes a few times after taking in the seventeen very nearly eighteen year olds attire. "Firstly, if I hadn't been told your age, I would've mistake you for twenty, secondly, those weren't the clothes you took with you." She pointed out.

Aurora shrugged. "They didn't feel right, I went with these instead." She gestured to her look.

Elizabeth gave her old friend a warm smile. "Dear, you never cease to amaze, even after eighty odd years you're still surprising me." She stated fondly.

Aurora chuckled in response. "Cliffjumper would agree with you on that one."

Kate looked over to her grandmother in law, clearly not knowing what Aurora was talking about.

"Classified." Aurora stated, leaving Kate to give a single nod before checking her watch.

"Elizabeth, the announcement is about to start. Good luck, Rosaline Tinuma." Kate gave a single wave before turning and walking down the corridor, likely to go see her children.

Elizabeth placed a hand on Aurora's shoulder. "Come, the public awaits."

"They have no idea what's about to happen do they?"

"Not a clue."

* * *

Arcee's subconscious a few hours later

"'Cee?" Her helm snapped round to find her love floating there, a warm smile on his faceplates.

"Cliff." She muttered, having been staring at her clawed servos for some time as she floated.

The two where embracing a moment later, Arcee tilted her helm up to look at him. "Cliff… they let you come?" She asked.

Cliffjumper nodded. "Yeah, it's been two weeks you know. How yah been holding up?" He asked.

Arcee turned away from him. "My, my servos. They're not Cybertronian, my pedes too." She muttered.

Cliffjumper bowed his helm for a moment, before he raised his servo, and flicked it towards him, causing a startled gasp to escape the femme as she spun back around and was pulled to his chassis, without him even touching her. "Neat huh? Finally got the hang of this element stuff, turns out I just needed a giant slab of steel being tossed at me!" He joked, before tilting her helm up to look at him. "'Cee, you have to understand, this is for the best." He told her, a single clawed digit under her chin keeping her from looking away from his teal blue optics.

Arcee shook her helm. "How, how can this be for the best? They're keeping you from us, from me." She begged, suddenly she remembered something, back from when she'd awoken from his first visit. "Does this in anyway have to do with Optimus' daughter, Aurora?" She asked.

Cliffjumper tilted his helm to the side in a look of confusion. "The ones I'm with never mentioned anything like that…And when did Prime have a kid?" He hated lying to her like this, his own intended! But he knew now it was for the best, there were things at work that he wasn't supposed to know about yet, and he would just have to accept that for now.

Arcee released a tired sigh, she'd have to tell Optimus the bad news, it would likely break his spark. Her guilt had been immeasurable these past few weeks, having made such an accusation without knowing what the Prime was going through. Maybe, she'd just not tell him, she hated the thought, but it was likely for the best.

Cliffjmuper shook his helm before taking her chin fully into his servo and lifting her helm to look him in the optics again. "'Cee, please, I love you with all my spark, not being able to hold you has been agony, but right now, I need you to trust me. You need to do something pretty damn important right now. Now, I need you to close your optics for me okay?" He asked.

She couldn't say no to his begging tone, and gave a simple nod of her helm as she closed her optics and nuzzled up against his servo.

A small flash occurred in front of her closed optics before she felt her pedes make contact with solid ground, she was about to open her optics when something soft was placed over them. "Can't let you be peeking 'Cee, it would ruin the surprise." She wanted to argue but he was already leading her somewhere.

Her curiosity was out of control, where were they? What was so important that she needed to do? Why was it so hot and humid all of a sudden? Was she still dreaming, or was she awake? Was that a bird call she just heard? Why could she feel the ground beneath her?

Before she could think of a solid answer for any of them, a deafening roar broke out from somewhere far off to the left of her, making her jolt, it was then followed by an indignant high pitched squawk, she heard Cliffjumper chuckle beside her.

"Looks like those two are at it again." He rumbled, mirth laden in their voice. "Every day at some point, someone ticks someone else off, and it's quite the show to watch. But, that's not what you're here for."

It was then that she realised the truth, she wasn't dreaming, Cliffjumper was holding her, in the real world, and wherever they were, they were in no way alone. "Cliff, am I still dreaming?" She asked.

Cliffjumper paused for a moment, he turned to see where Aurora had been following them, floating in the air with that robe covering her human form to hide her identity from Arcee, she gave a simple nod to his question, she could know. "Err, no. You kind of need to be awake for this 'Cee." He admitted.

Before he could respond, she pulled herself from his grip, spun to face him, and pulled him into a searing kiss, somehow knowing exactly where he was even though she was blindfolded, something Aurora quickly turned away from, a blush hidden under her robes hood, she was always embarrassed when she saw a couple kissing, and now was no exception.

No matter how many thousands upon thousands of times she'd witnessed it, accidental or not.

They pulled away after a moment and Arcee did her best to hug Cliffjumper, her arms not being long enough to wrap all the way around, which Cliffjumper returned, pulling her right off the ground and nuzzling his helm against hers. "Primus, I love you." He muttered.

Arcee seemed to choke on her own vents as she returned the affection. "I love you too." She responded overjoyed at being in her intended's physical embrace again.

Aurora turned her head back around to look at the scene; they were still on the clock. Cliffjumper spotted her out of the corner of his optic as she made a gesture to tell him that she would allow Arcee's blindfold to be removed early. They were about to enter the cave anyway.

Cliffjumper felt his spark soar at the prospect, gently undoing the knot he had tied in the soft black fabric and letting it flutter to the ground.

The two watched tentatively as Arcee fluttered her optics open, seeming to be surprised with how bright it was, once her optics had adjusted however, she leapt into Cliffjumper's arms again, burying her helm into the crook of his neck as she wailed, trying to pull him closer to her.

"Aww, 'Cee, I missed you too." Cliffjumper rumbled back, tilting his own helm against hers as they embraced.

They continued to hold one another for a time, until Arcee finally looked up over Ciffjumper's shoulder, and spotted the all too familiar figure floating in front of her, the black void where a face would be only interrupted by two glowing blue orbs. "It's you." She growled, trying to clamber over Cliffjumper to get at Aurora. "You did this! You did this to us! HOW COULD YOU!?" She screamed the last part, she would've throttled the cloaked figure had Cliffjumper not pinned her to him.

"Whoa 'Cee! Easy! They're a friend! They're a friend!" He repeated, trying to calm the femme but she wouldn't listen, she continued to struggle for a moment more before her entire frame seized up.

"Enough." The voice which left the cloak was neither male nor female, sounding more akin to a broken speaker, but the words were still easily audible. "I understand your reason to wish me offlined, but think, had my ally not brought his corpse to me, you would not be embracing now, and Cliffjumper would be one with the Allspark. Think Arcee. One of the main reasons we are keeping him here, is so that he can fully control his new abilities, he is yet to learn flight still, and that is the longest and hardest to complete outside of fighting with chopsticks, which I have had to do, he will then teach you when the time comes, but to do that, he must know how to fight as a Predacon himself. The other reason…" She floated up until she was incredibly close to Arcee's faceplates, yet still all she could see where narrowed eyes, made up of multiple tints of blue. "Is because there are forces at work that depend on the course of this war; ones which will either end the universe or save it, and bring it into a new era. It is our job to make sure this war goes correctly, and as such, things are to only happen in a certain order and only that order. Cliffjumper will return to the field, but only when he and the time are ready. _Understood_?" The voice growled; she could imagine the figure within the cloak baring razor sharp teeth at her, what with how the glowing slit eyes where narrowed to the point they looked like slightly crooked lines.

Arcee's frame gained its flexibility and what the cloaked figure had said hit her like a railroad train car. "Yes… thank you, for saving my love." She whimpered. She looked back at the figure. "Can I ask one question?" She asked.

Aurora nodded.

"What gender are you, I don't want to refer to the one who saved my love, as 'it'." She admitted.

"I am a female, is this better?" Aurora asked, using her real voice. Arcee was thrown for a loop by the sincerity in it, like a mother caring for a child, yet, the voice belonged to someone younger than her, and yet still, they seemed wiser, like they'd seen all there was to be seen, it gave the figure an air of wisdom which reminded her so much of a wise old lady it actually surprised her. It was a complete stark contrast from what she'd been expecting, what that was she wasn't sure, she just knew that a kind and wise voice was not what she'd expected.

Arcee could only nod in response.

"Good, now, follow me." With that said, Aurora floated into the cave, Cliffjumper quickly following behind, Arcee quickly following behind him.

She paused for a moment when something caught the corner of her optic, turning her helm, she spotted, far off in the distance on a rocky cliff face, stood a crimson red and black marked figure, the crossed arms and tilted hip alerted her to the fact the figure probably didn't like her.

The femme's faceplates where hidden in shadow, but the glowing blue optics where still clearly visible as they scowled down at her.

Then, before her very optics, the femme erupted into flame, disappearing from view with only a few embers left to travel skyward.

"Arcee, do not get distracted please." Aurora called, Arcee was startled from her internal musings and was quick to catch up, her now clawed pedes gripping the uneven surface much easier than she would have if they were her old pedes.

In truth, she was starting to see all of this fiasco from a whole different angle, there was something big on the way, something that they couldn't know about yet, likely for their own protection, and these… beings, she wasn't sure what to call that femme she'd just seen, she looked, not of this time… and the tail had certainly thrown her, were trying to help without revealing information which could jeopardise them all. And finally, they'd saved her mate, brought him back to her, and even though she knew she would likely not be staying, they would not prevent one another from coming together, either in the real world, or during recharge.

They trekked through the cave for a time, Cliffjumper had at one point or other drawn her into a sideways hug, seeming to not yet want to break away from her, something she agreed with.

Finally they came to the same chamber that Aurora had led Cliffjumper soon after his resurrection, the chamber looked completely identical in nature as to the red and silver mechs previous visit, not that Arcee knew that.

"Incredible…" The femme muttered, shuffling slightly closer to the body of crystal clear water, the bottom was filled with hundreds of small white roses and tulips, flowers underwater, that was a new one for her.

"Do not fall in, we have no idea what it might do to Cybertronian. All we need you to do is to hold your servo over it, the rest will come naturally." Aurora instructed, placing herself upon a small rock ledge on the other side of the cavern.

Arcee nodded her helm. But before she could, Aurora spoke again. "You should know what this will do. It will grant you the ability to control one of the natural elements, based mostly on your character and past experiences, I am water, Cliffjumper is metal, you, well, we are about to find out."

Arcee took that as the signal to go ahead. It took only moments for a tendril of white and blue blue floated out of the mini lake, and coiled around her servo and arm.

"Steady your spark, if your spark beats out of time, the fusion will not work correctly, and you will have to try again." Aurora instructed.

Arcee tried to do as the figure told, Cliffjumper noticed that his love was struggling to calm herself, and taking it upon himself, he wrapped his larger clawed servo around her free one, hopefully calming her enough.

It seemed to be enough, as the tendril melted into the gaps between her armour, traveling up and down her form until it had seeped into every possible surface.

A moment later it was done.

Arcee released a shaky breath before being pulled into a tight hug by her mate. "Welcome to the crazy club 'Cee!" He stated.

Arcee raised an optic ridge at him. "'Crazy club'? Cliff, what have you gotten yourself into?" She asked with a questioning tone.

Cliffjumper chuckled awkwardly, gazing over to Aurora for help.

She seemed merciful today. "He his referring to his hosts, I must admit, we are quiet the dysfunctional family at time. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go and check in on my sister, who knows what creation she's created this time in that greenhouse of hers." Giving a slight bow to the two she walked towards one of the small streams which travelled into the lake, and stepped into it.

Arcee watched in unbidden shock as the cloaked figure melted into the tiny stream, there was no way a normal human could melt into such a tiny amount of water like that, slag, they weren't even supposed to melt!

She was distracted from her musings once again by Cliffjumper. "So, what element did you get?" He asked, curiosity brimming in his optics.

She could only shrug. "Not like I know how to use it." She stated, giving him a look as if to say 'what did you expect?'

He responded with a chuckle. "It's pretty easy, hold you servo out to me." She followed his instructions. "Then imagine something forming in your servo, this is what she did with me first, it was pretty cool." He admitted.

Arcee shock her helm but did as she was told, before her very optics a mini Cliffjumper formed in her servo. Made entirely of ice. "Whoa…" She gasped, holding the tiny figure closer to her optics, it was perfect down to every detail.

Cliffjumper smirked at the sight, before quickly pulling her in a crushing hug. "Aww! You do love me!" He warbled.

Arcee snorted and slapped him lightly on the chassis. "It was the first thing I thought of. Don't let it go over your helm." She chastised.

Cliffjumper huffed in response before shrugging. "Sure, you think that. Now come on, I'm allowed to give you a tour of where I'm staying." He told her happily.

Arcee looked at him sceptically. "What is it? Another cave?" She asked.

Cliffjumper actually howled with laughter that time, coming out almost as a bellowing roar as his tail flicked around with mirth, the four pointed fork which often reminded him a little too much of Soundwave's tentacles. "Oh 'Cee, you have no idea what you just set yourself up for!"

Why did she suddenly feel very afraid that she'd made a mistake in her judgement?

* * *

Seven hours later Autobot Outost Omega One

Arcee sighed as she leant against the wall of base, watching as Bumblebee and Bulkhead helped Optimus push the large, thing, into one of the storage rooms to thaw. They'd found it buried in the artic, and until it thawed, they'd have no idea what was inside.

She'd expected a cave, not an entire palace the size of the Iacon Hall of records in its hey day!

Not that she was allowed to see much, but she'd heard shouting from the giant greenhouse as he showed her around the gardens, never inside though, she assumed she wasn't allowed in there.

But the gardens where enough to feel a bout of jealousy, they had this base, yet that group had a castle fit for a Cybertronian head of council with how large it was, and how grand. The gardens themselves where filled with thousands of species, all boasting their own colour, smell, shape and any mix of the three.

Carefully she traced the flower her mate had picked for her, the species wasn't one that humans in general where aware off, the flower was a mass of at least forty small/ medium sized petals as they sat in layers forming a pod like structure in the centre, and each petal looked like colour had been painted on, each one having a different colour combo and all of them being unique to only that petal of the bunch. It was a work of art, and she wondered why such a species had never been documented before, but then again, it had become very clear to her why that was likely the reason soon after he had given it to her.

The palace, and everything around it, all the wide spacious semi tropical greenery, was all somewhere, buried underground.

Meaning trying to locate it and her mate was hopeless.

Without even realising it, tiny flecks of ice had begun to form on the palm of her servo as it brushed the flower, thankfully not damaging it as she quickly placed the unknown flower into her subspace for safe keeping until she could press it, she still couldn't believe that hadn't been a dream, that she had actually been able to hold Cliffjumper, and even though she hadn't seen their face, had heard and seen the figure which had saved him, she realised now how brash she'd been, she hadn't known the full picture when she'd first woken up after the Spacebridge incident, and in truth, she still knew nothing, but she had to be thankful to the figure as well, they'd saved her from offlining as well.

But the whole concept, of being able to control an element, that surprised her, it showed to her just how powerful these dangerous forces could be, that figure, had power over water, the most common of anything on the planet! If they were worried about these forces, it was clear to her that being as ready as possible seemed like their best option.

It seemed they were thinking something along the lines that, a Predacon is far stronger than a Cybertronian, and a Predacon able to control an element of nature itself, would defiantly give them all a power boost.

It was then that she spotted the ice crystals, they'd now reached the joint in her arm, with a quiet gasp she brushed them away, trying to focus on the crystals as if to make them disappear.

To her very surprise they did.

'That's kind of scary.' She thought lightly, but was quickly distracted by Optimus, Bulkhead and Bumblebee walking out of the storage room.

 **"** **Hey 'Cee, its Saturday again, Raf just called asking for a pick up."** Bumblebee stated.

Arcee nodded, transforming into her own vehicle mode. "Let's go."

* * *

Three hours later

 _"_ _Arcee, core Temperature has reached the blue zone, what is your status?"_ Optimus commed her.

Strange, she couldn't feel anything wrong, her core temperature hadn't fallen at all, the cold wasn't affecting her it would seem. Was this one of the benefits of having control over Ice? Not being affected by cold, come to think of it, being in the high heat of the base had been more irritating that normal. _"Nothing yet sir. My core temperature isn't changing."_ She told him, she hadn't actually told anyone about what had happened last night.

 _"_ _Strange… Arcee, I cannot contact base, rendezvous at my co-ordinates so we may find shelter, I fear we will be here longer than anticipated."_ That didn't sound good to her, not one bit.

* * *

Base

Miko, Bulkhead and Roxy moved down one of the halls in the base, trying to find any Scraplets. Something which was clearly freaking the former Wrecker out.

Roxy, the Devon Rex Optimus had found two and a bit weeks ago however, seemed to be calmly waiting for the next Scraplet to show itself.

They'd all had a pretty big shock when the small feline had attacked the Scraplet which had been trying to attack Bumblebee, savagely clawing at the smaller creature and even pulling a leg off, Raf had intervened at that point and had used the crowbar to finish the creature.

Now, the white, and grey cat was leading the small group down the hall.

"Raf found the first one around here, right?" Bulkhead asked, only for a moment later the lights to get knocked out, resulting in one, very loud, very femme like scream.

A moment later the lights came back on, Miko and Roxy both turning to look up at the green mech. "Did you just scream like a little girl?" Miko taunted, whilst Roxy just stared at the green mech, who was currently trying to draw his attention elsewhere.

"No! Maybe… can we talk about this later?" He asked.

Miko shrugged as she and Roxy continued on for a moment.

At least until scuttling was heard above, Bulkhead gave a panicked scream, abruptly shooting at the ceiling above with his blaster.

Roxy and Miko turned just in time to watch as Bulkhead screamed, flailing around in cables with a look of utmost terror on his faceplates.

Miko glanced over at Roxy. "Okay, I wish I never had to see that. Bulkhead! Relax! They're just cables!" She pointed out with her own weapon of choice, a large wrench.

"Meow." Roxy seemed to agree with her.

Bulkhead stopped flailing, finding that his charge, and possibly Optimus' cat were right, yes Optimus', Roxy seemed to be most drawn to the mech, often somehow ending up curled upon his shoulder, or even his helm! No one could figure out how she could get up there.

"Oh, right, cables." He stated, pulling one down, only to scream like a banshee has dozens of Scraplets rained down on him.

"BULKHEAD!"

* * *

Artic

"Optimus! Wake up!" Arcee begged, tapping the Prime on the side of his faceplates, she still wasn't being affected by the cold, but Optimus was. And it was showing, he could barely keep his optics open now.

Optimus groaned slightly in response to Arcee's pestering. "I am trying my friend, but my core temperature has long since fallen too low." He muttered back, his processor was beginning to lose focus, coherent thought being a struggle even.

Arcee however, wasn't going to stand idly by and watch this.

Stepping out into the now raging storm, much to distress of her Prime, she searched the limited horizon which she could see in the white out. "I know you're out there! You're watching us! Are you going to let him offline like this!" She called, trying to draw out the figure who had given her and her mate a second chance at life.

She couldn't see the large mass circling through the water under the ice around the shelter they were in, one giant eye always peering up at them, watching them from across a line she could not step across.

"I thought you wanted to make sure everything went correctly! Whose side of this war are you on?! The Decepticons?! Is this why you're leaving him to offline!?" Before she could continue a blurred figure appeared on her limited horizon, walking closer towards them, what came into her view though was not what she'd been expecting.

The Polar bear stared directly up at her, two cubs huddled behind the mother's legs as she glanced upwards towards Arcee.

"Morning M' lady."

Did, did she just hear that right?

Arcee shook her helm to try and find out if she was hearing things. "W-what?" She stuttered.

She didn't notice a second polar bear appear through the white out until she herself spoke. "She said good morning, we came to help, Governess of Ice, Lady Arcee." The second greeted, this one was clearly younger, bowing her head to the cobalt blue femme.

Before her very optics, one by one, polar bears emerged from the white out, all of them looking up to her, seeming to wait for her command.

The first spoke again, seeming to realise that Arcee was still, incredibly new at this. "You are the Governess of Ice, we live on the ice, we are partially led by you, and our two other core elements, they sent us to you to aid you, seeing as it is dangerous for them to remain in such environment's for so long." She explained, still making very little sense to Arcee though.

The cubs which had once been hiding behind her dashed forwards towards where Optimus was still lying, his core temperature too low now to properly focus on anything, at least until two large balls of white fur flopped down on top of his helm. "We keep you warm!" The two chanted, whilst Optimus only heard triumphant snorts and bellows, confusing him to some degree as to why he suddenly had Polar bear cubs lying on him, not that he was complaining, they were surprisingly warm.

The second Polar bear gestured to the sight with her snout. "That's what we came here to do, keep you two warm, now get inside, we can be your frame warmers."

Before she could argue or even comprehend what was going on, the rest of the massive predators had either smothered the Prime, or flocked around her, nudging her with their snouts back into the shelter.

Still too dumbstruck to understand what was going on, she allowed the powerful organic creatures lead her back into the shelter, they quickly covered her as well, surprising her with how warm it suddenly got.

After a few minutes she'd finally recovered enough to ask. "Why are you doing this?" She asked.

The one closest to her helm answered, another female. "Two reasons, firstly, the ladies of Nature and Water asked us to, second, you are the only governor who can remain on the ice, lady nature and water cannot. They did wish to come, but coming here is extremely risky to their health, lady water is currently below the ice, trying to stay warm as she keeps a vigil on you, but the frigid temperatures of the surface are currently too much for her in her still healing state. So they sent us instead." She explained.

She thought this over for a few minutes, 'lady water' was likely the blue robed female she'd met the night before, she seemed to use the river as her transportation, but this 'lady nature' was unknown to her.

She knew however, like Cliff, the bears were likely not allowed to say anything, so instead she asked. "Why are you all female?" She asked.

One by her pede huffed. "Like we'd ever purposefully be anywhere near those brutish males! They'd try and kill our cubs!" She exclaimed.

Fair point.

"Lady Ice, can you please create a wall in the place of the opening? It will make warming you up faster." The one she recognised as the first of the group she met asked from where she was drapped over the Prime's abdomen.

She felt a slight blush creep up her. "I don't know how." She admitted.

"Do not worry, the elements do as you tell them, they have no solid conscious, so they do not fight, simply wish for there to be a barrier there, and the ice and snow will act as such." She instructed.

"That sounds almost too easy." She remarked.

Another bear chuckled. "M' lady, if everything was difficult, nothing would ever get done."

Arcee did as she was instructed then, hearing a groaning and cracking sound for a few moments, before the frigid air which had been blowing in, to be cut off. "Wow." She muttered, craning her neck cables up slightly to see the glinting wall of ice which had formed. With a content sigh she leaned back into the snow. "This element stuff may not be so bad." She admitted.

Optimus on the other hand was beyond confused, Arcee seemed to be in a conversation with a group of Polar bears, and he had two Polar bear cubs lying on his faceplates keeping the surface from freezing, and also leaving him with only being able to see white.

This was beginning to get very strange.

* * *

The Palace of the Titan's

Emily shivered as she petted her favourite creation. "Spin-spin? You don't like the cold do you?" She asked the arachnid.

Spin-spin didn't respond, too busy dealing with the prey it had caught.

Which happened to be an incredibly pissed off Rya.

"EMILY! GET ME OUT OF THIS FUCKING WEB RIGHT THIS GODDAMN MINUTE!" She screamed, straining to get out of her sticky prison.

It was at that moment that Cliffjumper walked in in his beast form, the Predacon mech having been lead to the Greenhouse (which he'd been told to never enter without anyone with him) by the commotion and Rya's obvious infuriation. "Something going on… here?" The last word came out as a miniscule squeak, having noticed Emily's pet and what it was doing to Rya.

Rya titled her helm round so that she could see the Predacon mech. "Cliffjumper!" He was honestly shocked to see such relief in her optics. "Emily's not doing anything to stop her pet!" She cried as the aforementioned spider continued to wrap its victim in its webbing.

He turned to see the crimson red and forest green femme shrug. "They both need practise, Rya in escaping situations, and Spin-spin in hunting." She explained.

Cliffjumper turned to Rya. "Why not just burn through them?" He asked.

Rya huffed. "As if, their flame retardant, Emily's screwed with Spin-spin's genetics so much, the damn thing's practically impervious to all of us! Razor dropped a whole mountains worth of rocks on the hell spawn once, and she just got right back up! Aurora can drown her, but that's because Emily wanted at least someone else to be able to control this son of a bitch!" Rya explained, panic rising in her voice with every sentence.

Cliffjumper still wasn't sure what to think of the situation, spiders where not something he liked dealing with, especially after the Arachnid fiasco, and now, here was Emily's 'pet', the thing was bigger than him!

Was it mentioned that Spin-spin was in no way weak, whereas Arachnid reminded him much of a Black Widow, Spin-spin reminded him of a Goliath Bird Eating spider, this entailing a few major differences, one, massive legs, two, fangs which could easily pierce his armour, and three, was currently able to hold down _Rya_.

A femme youngling he saw no less than yesterday toss _Razor_ over her shoulder!

Yeah, he wasn't going anywhere near that thing.

"I'll go get Aurora." He suggested before bolting out of there.

"HURRY!" Rya screamed after him, knowing in truth, even Cliffjumper wouldn't of been able to help, this was her best bet, damn the fact they didn't have com-links, and bonds where another thing they lacked, having previously all been organics.

Cliffjumper pelted through the pristine corridors of the Palace, his audios picking up the sound of music, meaning Aurora was in her orchestra hall, only this time, it didn't sound like a rolling, soothing synthony like the first time he'd heard her.

This was going to be the first time he'd ever interrupted her, and wasn't sure what to fear more, the massive spider, or the Titan who could use him as a puppet while she was the puppet master.

He shuddered, no thank you.

With a deep breath to collect his thoughts, he knocked.

Nothing, he knocked again.

Again nothing, the sound continuing on undisrupted.

Thinking that she probably just couldn't hear him, he opened one of the doors.

The sound which assaulted him was deafening, his own thoughts being blown clear out of his head as what he realised was thousands of instruments played in perfect sync.

A moment later, the music just stopped, halfway through a verse, looking up with audios still ringing to the point he feared himself deaf, he found himself looking into the surprised optics of Aurora as she knelt down to help him up from where he'd fell to his own knees from the sheer volume. He quickly accepted her larger clawed servo, allowing her to pull him up with ease, her strength was well hidden by her frame's nature, speed and agility where her forte, but that didn't mean she couldn't bench press Razor. "Cliffjumper? What are you doing here?" She asked, she seemed more laid back at the moment.

'Maybe music helps her relax? Would make sense.' He pondered. He tried to answer her, only to falter when he realised they were not in any way alone.

Qulatians, hundreds of them, each man or woman holding a different instrument, all of them having cut of mid note.

He shook his helm, focusing back on the Titan femme. "Emily's giant spider thing has Rya tangled up in a web." He explained, trying to ignore the looks of curiosity being placed upon him by the human inhabitants of the room, the layout of the room meaning that he had to crane his neck cables up a serious distance to see those at the very top, they likely weren't afraid of heights.

Aurora's face twisted into a scowl as a low growl built up from within her chassis. Before he could even ask what was wrong she turned to the musicians. "Keep practising! We need to have that song perfect for the opening ceremony of the Otami Games!" She commanded.

Instantly they set to work again, and sound filled the hall as it had before, not as loud though this time.

She turned back to face him, scowl still set deep on her faceplates. "Follow me, I need to have a few words with my sister." Without waiting a moment she stormed out of the hall and into the corridor, Cliffjumper was quick to follow the irritated femme, wanting to understand what was going on here, along with this so called Otami games.

* * *

Three hours later

Cliffjumper listened as Rya continued to vent her frustrations on him, still trying to get the impossibly sticky web out of her horns and the gaps of her armour.

He was doing his best to help as well, seeing as the femme couldn't reach her back strut, which was one of the worst spots seeing as the vast amount of spikes had been lying directly on the webbing, resulting in her looking like she'd had spiders living there for a good few decades.

Suddenly a thought popped into his helm. "Hey, Rya?" He asked.

Rya raised an optic ridge at him before nodding her helm to let him know he could continue.

"Aurora mentioned something called the Otami games, I wanted to ask her what she meant but she'd already reached the greenhouse.

He swore to Primus he never wanted to get on Aurora's bad side, forget Ratchet, she could throw a verbal hit with enough ferocity he felt his pedes go weak! And he wasn't even the one they were aimed at!

Not that he understood what Aurora was saying, having apparently reverted to her own native language.

It was basically a lot of growling, roaring and screeching to him, but Emily understood every word of it, and had quickly gotten the now completely cocooned Rya out of the web, Emily looked to of been royally scolded as she slunk away, her beast form low to the ground as she disappeared into a clump of trees.

It was then left to Cliffjumper to help Rya get all the webbing off. Not easy.

At his question though, Rya seemed to actually grow excited. "Oh! That's easy! The Otami games is a sporting event which occurs in Cavern two at random intervals, it's almost been five years since the last one, and the next is coming up in a few months! It's to allow the greatest athletes, warriors and musicians of each Cavern state to show off his or hers skills. The event starts with the Orona Orchestra playing music, to rile up the crowd of sixteen million, the total population of the Caverns, then it's the sporting events, you know, distance, gymnastics, like the Olympics, then comes the final part of the Games, but that, well, you just need to see it for yourself." She taunted.

Cliffjumper huffed in slight annoyance, why did this lot always have to be so secretive? "When's the next one?" He asked.

"In a few months, like I just said, hence why Aurora and the Orona's where practising, the palace has the best indoor music hall within all of the caverns, only the best of the best get to play and practise within those mostly sound proof walls. And Cliff? Thanks, for listening." She shuffled nervously under his confused gaze. "After… it happened, only Ro would ever really listen to me, but here you are, listening to me vent and whine and complain about everything, Em, Ray and Sonson never really pay attention, Em's to wacko to really pay attention for too long, Ray's has a habit of simply just falling asleep, normally landing on top of me, and Sonson's too busy preening to every care. So, thanks, it's nice, to talk to someone for a change, you know, who'll listen. Like Ig used to." She muttered the last bit. But Cliffjumper still heard.

"Ig? Who's Ig?" He asked.

Rya spluttered for a moment, realising she'd just let something like that slip. "No one!" She exclaimed, Cliffjumper's faceplates morphed into one of worry, it was just a question. "It doesn't matter anyway, he died, a long, long time ago. Heart problems." She lied, although it wasn't a complete lie.

Cliffjumnper could see she was lying, the femme teen wasn't the best at it, and his intended was Arcee, he knew when somebot was hiding something.

But for once, he chose to not question her further, Rya could explode at a single gesture by the looks of it, something he'd prefer to avoid.

So instead, he did what he thought was right, and slowly pulled her into a sideways hug. "I know your lying, but if it's too painful to say the truth, I won't pressure you." He explained.

Rya stared up at the mech in shock, he was willing to let this go… just like how Ig used to be, Cliffjumper was so like Ig, at first, she'd despised him ,but that was when he'd first arrived on Earth with his femme friend to be. Happy go lucky and would never shut up, she had hated how he was so much like Ig, but now, she cherished it, imagining Ig in his place, holding her closer than anyone else as he told her stories of his own herd, back when they were organics, before they'd died the first time.

Neither noticed that, after a short amount of time, how much they weren't sure, they both drifted off into recharge.

Aurora was the one to find the two, having come to check in on the progress of removing the web, what she saw was enough to give her furnace hope. Cliffjumper was helping Rya heal, they just didn't realise it yet.

"I remember when Ig used to do that. Holding her close, sleeping peacefuly, and now… Rya's got a new daddy." She spoke quietly; Harp was the only one to hear her.

"Hopefully she won't lose him either, if she breaks like that again, she'll be lost to us, just like your mother and the rest of your kind." Harp warned.

A low rumble built within the Titan femme's chassis as she leant against the doorframe, her wings sticking out into the corridor as she regarded the two with a soft gaze. "I'm not going to let that happen, we've all lost ones we've held dear, no matter what, I'm keeping my family safe, I refuse to lose anyone else, even if it means killing more humans." She rumbled, deciding it would be best not to wake the two, she walked back out of the fire themed room, and back to her own. Completely content with sleeping the rest of the day away, Optimus and Arcee where safe back at base, the Scraplets had been dealt with and Emily was grounded for using Rya as a test subject.

For now, she could rest in peace.

* * *

 **Chapter complete! Guys?**

 **Sonic: Where, was I?  
**

 **Moon: Preening in your room**

 **Razor: Why did you have to tell everyone that Rya tossed me?**

 **Moon: Felt like it**

 **Aurora: Well, lets focus, merry Christmas everyone! There likely won't be another update until next year so wewish you a happy new year too!**

 **Moon: Well said, now then, enjoy your presents everyone!**


	9. Revelations of different kinds

**New chapter! Which means chapter13 is now complete! Wowzah, I got hit bya bout of inspiration on it and about four thousands words came to me in two days, whilst working on other stuff, oh boy. As always, only those not owned by Hasbro are mine, also, this story will likely become AU later, but for now, it's following along with the story. Anyway, on with the chapter and I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 9

It was a few days after the Scraplet and Arctic incident, and now, Cliffjumper had noticed a slight shift in Rya's, as well as all the other members of the groups attitudes towards him, for one thing, Rya was talking more freely with him now, actually seeking him out instead of just talking when they bumped into one another, Sonic was still mostly too busy with his appearance to notice, but Cliffjumper had spotted the odd slightly warmer smile than the frigid one he used to receive, Razor actually warned him before attacking him in training, Emily was apparently doing her best not to make anything too dangerous, and Aurora, seemed less… enclosed, she was more willing to speak with him.

In other words, he thought they'd all lost their marbles. But that was just his opinion on the whole thing.

"Cliffjumper! Focus!" Razor yelled, swinging his hammered tail down towards the Predacons mechs helm.

Thankfully the warning came just in time, allowing the mech, currently in his beast form, time to roll out of the way of the hammer. "Scrap!" He exclaimed, noticing the large indent now where he was previously standing. "What happened to warning me!?" He exclaimed.

"I did!" Razor responded back. "Only you were too busy to hear me the first time! Get your head in the game!" The Spinosaurus growled, quickly opening his jaw wide to allow a plume of green flame to pour out towards the mech, Which Cliffjumper was able to prevent my creating a wall of steel to block the torrent, the green flames leaving the front of the shield molten a glowing a hot white, from only seconds of contact. That, was hot.

That, also could've been him. He'd long since learnt that Razor wasn't one to horse around with, he was blunt and to the point.

'Litterally.' Cliffjumper thought as he had to duck his helm to prevent the far larger mech from rippng the side of his helm off with the colossal talons on Razor's powerful forearms.

Mother Nature had really gone overboard when creating those.

At least, he thinks it was Mother Nature, Aurora and the group had yet to explain how anyone except Aurora even existed!

"Okay, I admit I was, but can you at least explain something to me?" He asked. Before adding. "I don't think it's anything to revealing of why the slag you're doing all of this crazy scrap here."

Razor halted in his charge, having been only a few thunderous stepps from ramming the mech and possibly damaging something, the training today, was all about avoiding attacks in his new form, and Razor was very creative in that field, once he came to a stop though he shrugged his powerful shoulder plates. "Shoot." Before his entire pose fell into one of complete calmness as he lowered himself down to sit on the dusty earth of the now partially torched outdoors training area, Razor was a little too big to effectively move around in any of the sixteen indoor ones.

"Okay, thanks by the way, for you know, giving me those warnings." He murmured as he too eased himself down to sit facing the much larger mech. Even now his giant size intimidated the mech, and after seeing how much damage the Spinosaur could do, Cliffjumper was doing his best to stay on the green and blue mechs good side.

"Don't worry about it, think of it as a bonus for not trying to escape the cavern every five minutes." Razor responded, not looking at him as he inspected one of his blades. "Now, you're question?" He inquired, looking down at the smaller red and silver predacon mech with a raised optic ridge.

"Yeah, ever since the spider incident, you've all been treating me different. Care to explain why I saw mister high and mighty himself giving me a small smile?!" He exclaimed, trying to put emphasis on his point.

Razor snorted at that. "Sonson, smiled at you? Damn… Sounds like the giant Peacocks warming up to you if you ask me." He chuckled.

Cliffjumper raised an optic ridge at that one. "Okay, I need to know at some point how those nicknames came to be for your brother." He muttered. Before gesturing for the mech to continue.

Razor seemed to mull over his answer for a few moments before answering. "I guess it's the fact you helped Rya like that, she has a major phobia of Spiders." He admitted.

Cliffjumper gave him another raised optic ridge in response. Razor huffed. "She's learnt to hide it, we all have, each one of us is afraid of something. Emily is afraid of planes, Rya spiders, Sonic… he's a lot harder to explain, I'm terrified, and I do mean terrified, of small spaces, yes, my frame size makes it quiet hard for that not to happen whilst underground, and Aurora… She's terrified of isolation." He admitted.

"Isolation? Why?" Cliffjumper asked, leaning in closer to hear the explanation.

Razor shook his helm. "She has her reasons Cliff. And there's something you should be afraid of too. Death, everyone here is. You know why Cliff?" He shook his helm in response.

Razor stared at him for a long moment before answering. "A soul can only ever be resurrected once, and Ro's the only one here who's skilled in the art of Necromancy. If she dies, she's dead, and we can't bring her back, if any of us die, including you, she can't bring us back again."

Cliffjumper sat there frozen. "She, never mentioned that." In truth he'd fallen into a bubble of security, having been under the guise that if anything happened, Aurora could just bring him back.

That apparently wasn't the case.

Razor rose again, shifting into his bipedal state and stretching his arms high above his helm, the limbs easily passing the hight of the trees surrounding the area. "I don't feel like any more training is in order today, looks like you've got the rest of the day off, have fun!" He began walking off, only to stop when Cliffjumper called to him.

"Where is Aurora? I haven't seen her today." He asked.

Razor pondered the fact for a moment before seeming to remember something. "Oh! She got called out on a job by a friend!" He exclaimed, before performing a dive into the ground, quickly disappearing from view.

Cliffjumper stood there for a moment, wondering what Razor had just said. "A job? I thought they were hermits… And who's the 'friend'?"

* * *

West end, London

"You got guts kid, real guts, coming down here, shooting eighteen of my best men dead, and then have the gall, to stand there, and demand I give you what's rightfully mine? Girl, you are fucking crazy." Alexandro Philippe stated as he looked the blonde over, eyes lingering on the likely no older then nineteen year olds breasts. "How about this, I like your style, forward, to the point, you just waltzed in her, pulled out those little pistols, and took out my men, either you've got a death wish, or your already dead. I propose this, I'll let all this drop, if, we go a few rounds." He stated, laying his offer down on the table.

Hazel eyes narrowed slightly as the blond stood at the other end of the table, the two aforementioned pistols put back in place in their hidden holsters, attached securely around her thighs and hidden under the pale orange dress, but both of them knew that they wouldn't stay there long if things got heated again.

Her demeanour however, was completely casual. "Alex, you're one of the top crime bosses in London. One of the most feared for your brutality, and your ability to get tasks done without people noticing until it's too late. But even with all that, you're as good at seducing a woman as drunk man is of balancing on a tight rope." She mocked, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear as she watched a frown bloom on her targets face.

Alexandro frowned at her response. "Then I'll just have to kill you then." He threatened, drawing his own larger hand gun and pointing it towards her chest. "Any last words, bitch?"

"You're gonna shoot me, without even asking why I'm here. Bad idea, I could give you an idea of what kind of trail you left behind, for any novice to pick up on."

He froze, finger hovering on the trigger. "Trail? What trail?! I never leave any trail!" He declared, his other fist slamming into the table. "A novice! You crazy bitch! You're just a punk who got in here by sheer luck then!" He declared, pointing the gun that bit closer to her heart. "But tell me, what apparent trail did I apparently leave?" He enquired, a small smirk forming on his face when he spotted two of his bodyguards move to block the two doors in the room, the blonde had no way to escape.

He was surprised however, when as he turned back to look at her, she was picking at the underside of one of her nails. Not even looking at him.

His anger just continued to grow as she stepped up onto the table, the skin tight dress reaching down to her knees, with one side slit to allow movement.

She strut towards him on top of the table, hips swinging as she continued to draw closer.

She was halfway along the table when his temper took over, and fired.

What followed was not her limp form falling to the ground, instead, the table split in two, a shock wave slicing the walls of the room, a quarter of the way to him, the young woman still standing there.

Only now, a far larger weapon was in her grasp, the sight locked on where the table had been blasted, the rifle's muzzle still smoking, the heavy artillery had come from nowhere, and a strange humming rang out in the room.

Two bullets clattered harmlessly two the ground, the larger calibre bullet embedded within the smaller one from the magnum.

Alexandro and his two still remaining men stared on in shook as she woman hefted the large weapon up onto her shoulder, it looked like it could easily weigh more than her, and yet, she held it like it was a mere stick. A smug smirk forming on her face as she regarded the crime boss.

She didn't speak as she stepped over the now smoking gap in the table, continuing her advance until she squatted down in front of him, knees held together to keep her decency and the rifle still held over her shoulder.

Her hand snapped out, wrapping around his neck and squeezing it, but not enough to suffocate, only enough to cause major discomfort, she heard the safety's come off the guard's guns, ready to fire. "A novice huh? Oh I am far from that." She purred, her voice sugary sweet as she batted her long natural eye lashes, her rose red lips pulling into a slight frown. "Can a mere novice do this?" She enquired, her frown pulling back into a smirk when she heard the chocking sounds of the men behind her.

Alexandro couldn't verbally respond, so, she continued. "Can a novice, snap the necks of two people, without even moving a limb?" The men where gasping for air now. "Can a novice control the two mens muscles, so that they contract around the oesophagus and gullet? But allowing them just enough air to remain conscious?" She tilted her head slightly, bangs falling in such a way that she could see the blueing men from the very edge of her vision.

She turned back to him hazel eyes narrowing into thin slits, a blue glow pouring out from them with such intensity it lit up her face, giving her an inhuman look. "Can a novice cause their lungs to absorb their own blood, causing the vital organs to fill with said blood, by this point, those two aren't getting enough oxygen, their muscles and organs are shutting down, at my command, Now, I don't feel like making them suffer anymore, how about I end their suffering huh?"

He still couldn't answer, her grip too tight and spots where beginning to form within his own vision. But the sounds of two distinctive 'cracks' could be heard, as the bodies of his two guards fell to the floor, blood pooling from their mouths and noses, and even a few drops where flowing from their tear ducts, crying blood.

"You're turn." Her voice was still that sugary sweet, fear had long since taken hold over him, this wasn't a human, this was some kind of demon!

She pulled him closer, pulling his face to the side so his right cheek was facing her. "Open wide." Before he could respond, her mouth had snapped open, revealing rows upon rows of jagged teeth, before he could react, she'd bit down, ripping open the flesh and creating a hole to his mouth, causing him to scream in pain, blood chocking him as it began to flow down from the open wound.

She took a deep breath, her hazel eyes, which he could still see through his spotted and pain filled vision, narrowed, beginning to turn a pale blue under the glow, the hazel vanishing from sight.

Then, she exhaled, and his mouth was set ablaze, she was breathing fire, burning the inside of his mouth, it was moving downwards, into his lungs and stomach, the fire continued to spread on and on and on throughout him.

The pain was unbearable, and he was forced to release a chocked scream of agony as the fire continued to grow until his very skin began to peel, she just continued, pumping more and more fire into his body through the hole in his cheek.

She finally pulled away, now on the cusp of death, his gaze shifted upwards from where he now lay on the floor, too weak to even scream.

"Man up, Guy Fawkes suffered far worse for his treason against the crown, I made sure of it, consider yourself lucky you cunt."

That was the last he ever saw as the fire consumed him, the moment he slipped away, his body exploded into blue fire, scorching every inch of his body and leaving no part free of the immeasurable heat.

The blonde smirked at her handy work, allowing her body to shift back to normal, orange dress shifting to pale blue as her crippled wings sprouted from her back, her tail flicking out and the scythe like tip moving around to push the burnt corpse out of the way of the safe in the back of the room.

Her slit pale blue eyes narrowed, they had really thought that a mere safe would stop her.

Grabbing hold of the handle, she simply tore the door from its heavily reinforced hinges, tossing it so that it smashed through the wall opposite and partially crushing the pile of bodies which she'd left there.

Revealing the royal sceptre and orb.

"Treason is a crime punishable by death. At least, in my book." She stated, carefully picking up the two priceless objects, a demonic glint in her eye as she regarded the pieces of royal ownership. "Always has, always will be."

She returned to the desk, opened one of the bottles of water left abandoned on the table, Liz would send people to clean up the mess.

She fused with the water, and teleported back to the tower to return the sacred objects to the keeper of the tower.

* * *

Two days later Nemesis

She wanted to smash something, send her fist through a wall, anything to calm her down, the stress toy had long since been torn apart, first went the head, which Ravage now used as a very abused chew toy, then the wings went, then the arms and femme like legs, finally the useless torso was simply eaten, by herself, but now she found herself in quite a pickle, as the humans called it.

Her unborns were restless inside her, causing her to suffer through her own mood swings, oh the joys of being a carrier, the only problem was, she had no one to talk to, outside her deployers, she thought she'd be able to carry the two to full term without too many problems, but now less than a month from their laying, she found herself instinctually seeking someone out, anyone who could give her comfort.

Currently she was stuck on the bridge, forcing herself to stay where she stood as Starscream gave another of his cringe worthy speeches, oh how much she wanted to rip his helm off with her tentacles and slowly pick apart the inner workings of his mind, yes, she would like that a lot, but, her cover had to be kept, and so, she continued to work, hissing curses from her forked glossa, and praising Liara for giving her the sound cancelling visor the Shadow queen had given her at the beginning of her life as a Predacon, hiding her true nature within the pits as she fought to survive, it was far easier like this, without anyone of ill intent ever seeing her faceplates.

"…Thank you, for your time." The grey seeker finished, she clicked one of the buttons and the transmission across the ship ended, five more minutes, that's all the time she needed to wait before she could go free.

And she knew exactly where to go, she couldn't hide her carrying any longer.

"Ah, Soundwave, how is progress on energon mine 46?" Oh that voice! She wanted to crush the blasted organ which created that scratchy voice so badly!

She sent the needed documents to appease him. But that was it, three minutes, just three minutes and then she was out of there.

"Hmm, the drones could pick up the pace a little. Try and locate the cause of their low morale." He commanded her, her patience was currently very close to snapping, and unfortunately she didn't have her toy anymore, he seemed to of forgotten how much she hated him.

An idea hit her, she used one of her tentacles to pick up a blank data pad, turned to face him, took a picture of his confused face and displayed it on her visor for a few moments, before transferring the image to the data pad, using her tentacle to show the mech the image of himself.

"An autograph you say? Why Soundwave you could've asked…" He was cut off when her tentacle wrapped tighter around it, and within moments, was crushed under the force, glass clattering to the ground at her and his pedes before she easily sidestepped the dumbstruck seeker, she'd finished her work a little bit ahead of schedule, but that was perfectly fine for her.

Starscream, much to her relief, did not try and follow to get an explanation.

The flight deck was completely barren, not a mech in sight.

Placing all the cameras in feedback loops, she easily jumped from the side, allowing gravity to do its job and pull her closer and closer to the surface.

About three hundred metres from the trees below she shifted into her true Predacon state, spreading her wings wide and gliding down closer towards the forest, she was not in the mood for flying all the way to Africa from South America at the moment.

She landed with a light thump on all fours, before raising herself up onto her hind pedes and looking around, her long 's' shape neck craning in multiple directions as she tried to find something of her element.

She found it in the form of a birds nest, the chicks still young and not ready to fledge, rearing up to her full height, she placed the tip of one of her claws on the tiny creatures side, whilst her other fore limb braced her on the ancient tree, and within a moment, she was on her way, using the small birds mind as an opening to the network.

* * *

Palace of the Titan's Greenhouse

Emily hummed as she sat cross legged on the ground, Spin-Spin sat next to her, allowing her creator to stroke her fur covered head, and eight pitch black eyes closed in bliss at receiving so much attention from her creator.

There was a slight commotion to her left, turning to find the source of the sound she found Soundwave standing there, a small mouse quickly bolting out of range of the creature which had just passed out of its body. "SOUND!" Emily cheered, latching her arms around the smaller Predacon in a moment. "I missed you!" She trilled, only to falter when Soundwave pushed her away. "Sound? What's wrong?" She asked.

Soundwave pulled her visor off and looked up at Emily, seeing as the Titan femme was easily a third taller than herself. "I need to talk to Ro."

* * *

She was standing in front of the blue Titan's door not a moment later, Emily having grabbed her and jumped through a potted plant to get to the door without Cliffjumper seeing them,

Emily was already gone down the hall, something about Cliffjumper trying to get the hang of his element powers. Something she wouldn't normally miss, but he didn't know she was actually on their side, and she needed to speak with Aurora.

One of the towering double doors opened and she found herself staring up at her close friend's surprised optics. "Sound? What's wrong? Why are you here? Cliffjumper could see you!" She exclaimed, Soundwave didn't answer, gesturing to the fact she wanted to talk in private, Aurora seemed to understand as she led the smaller grey and purple femme over to a large reclining sofa and made her own gesture to sit, Aurora carefully took her friends clawed servos and leant in slightly to look into her optics. "Sound, what's wrong?" She asked.

She guessed the best way was to just say it. "I'm carrying, and there isn't a sire. I asked Liara to allow me to raise my own, without risking blowing my cover. I wanted to raise my own so badly." She admitted.

Aurora sat there in complete silence for a few moments, processing the information for moment, before wrapping her arms around her smaller frame and pulling her into a hug. "Congratulations! It was incredibly brave of you, how far along are you?" She asked, Soundwave slim build made it hard to tell.

"They'll be laid next month; they'll hatch about two months after that." She admitted, this was really going to screw everything up, Cliffjumper would find out about her job early.

Aurora pulled back slightly, her slit optics darting between each one of hers. " _'They'_ As in, more than one?" She asked her voice quiet.

"I'm having twins."

She was struggling to vent a moment later, Aurora having wrapped her arms so tight around her chassis she felt like she was going to burst.

Aurora was too excited, her words having been replaced with her native tongue, something which Soundwave was still trying to crack, Aurora wasn't easy to copy seeing as how fast those born Titan's could speak it, it normally consisting of chirps, clicks whistles and horn movements, which she couldn't see with her faceplates being crushed against her larger yet younger friends front.

Aurora let her go a moment later to allow air to flow back into her, her faceplates lighting up neon blue, physical contact was something almost unheard of now for her, meaning that even though she knew Ro didn't mean it in a romantic way, it was still incredibly awkward.

Aurora didn't seem to notice, seeing as she began shaking her backwards and forwards, she was definitely more excited than normal. "Oh Sound! You have no idea how incredible this news is!" She trilled, seeming to completely forget the fact that Sound had only told her now.

"You're not annoyed I didn't tell you sooner?" She asked.

Aurora shuttered her optics a few times. "Well, a small bit, but I can understand this is a difficult topic." She reached over and gripped her servos again. "Especially since Starscream took your sparkmate to be's life." She muttered quietly, waiting to see her friend's reaction.

Soundwave sat there, staring at nothing as her lithe clawed digits gripped the Titan's larger servos. "I want them to have a sire to look up to, I want it to be him, but that disgusting piece of slag took him from me." She whimpered, it was only in the presence of Aurora that she allowed herself to crumble like this.

"I know this is hard for you Sound, but don't worry, I'll help you in his place, if you want me to. As a friend, I would never take his place as their other creator, nor would I want to." She tried to calm her friend.

"When we return to Cybertron… If I can find even a piece of him, can you bring him back for me?" She pleaded.

A warm smile broke across her face. "I promise Sound, you deserve to be back with him again." She cooed.

Soundwave nodded, rising from her seating position and wrapping her thin arms around her larger friends shoulders. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She repeated.

Aurora rose too, Soundwave's arms falling from her shoulders. "That's what best friends do Sound, we look out for one another, through thick and thin."

Soundwave let out her own happy trill, before a thought reached her. "Aurora, can I ask you a question?" She asked.

Aurora nodded. "Ask away."

"Could you, be their God mother?" She asked.

The blue femme froze, slit optics wide and centres easily growing three times in size. Before a slag eating grin spread across her face, picking up her smaller friend with ease she hugged the stealth class Predacon close to her. "Of course! You think I wouldn't?!" She exclaimed, chassis puffing outwards in pride and the horns which adorned her helm doing similar.

Soundwave chuckled, the mood easily brightening as she squirmed in her friends vice like grip. "I don't know, I think it had something to do with nanoflies in my tanks though!" She exclaimed, she couldn't help it but feel more free then ever when she was with Aurora, the femme never judged, well, most of the time, no one was perfect, but she could always count on the femme to drop her masks and just act like a little girl when she needed help, it was quite strange though, seeing an almost fully grown Cybertronian acting like a youngling just out of sparkling hood. But that was just how Aurora was.

Suddenly Aurora's horns perked up, and her optics snapped to the far wall, this sometimes happened. "Harp says she's really proud of you, as a mother and mother figure herself, she'll help once she's finished with my wings." Aurora told her.

Soundwave felt her spark pulse happily. "I'm glad to hear it, thank you Harp, how is the restoration coming by the way?" She asked, noticing how the light blue femme then pulled her wings ever so slightly closer to her back strut, her wings where always a sore topic. Not being able to fly for so long was and had always been a major strain on her, both physically and mentally.

"Good actually! If I don't do anything to strenuous Harp say's I'll be flying again within… four months?" She stated, shaking her servo in a so-so gesture saying she wasn't quite sure.

"Not long then, and then, we can fly side by side for the first time." Soundwave beamed, she'd always wondered what it would be like to share the sky's with her best friend, but after the incident, that became impossible, not that Soundwave had even been on the planet at the time, at least, until Aurora's wings recovered, they'd have to wait.

"I warn you though, I haven't used these things in…. six hundred years or so, I'll have to learn to fly all over again." She grumbled. "Knowing my luck, I'll probably knock over a national monument by accident, or take all of us out in one failed swoop!" She groaned, falling back onto her side so her wings tumbled out onto the floor, Soundwave glanced at where Harp was once again wrapped tightly around her friends wing bases, Aurora had been crippled long before the Decepticon's had arrived on Earth, but if what her siblings and Harp had told her, Aurora had been in agony for quite a long period of time, how long was never fully elaborated.

She chuckled as she shook her helm. "Then we give you a wide berth. Simple."

Aurora rose from where she was laying and held a servo out to help her friend up. "You know, why not come with us shopping? We're heading up to the surface to upgrade our wardrobes in about two weeks, we all need it."

Soundwave stood there for a moment, looking at the larger femme like she'd grown an extra helm. "After what happened, I thought you'd next say that when the human race was dead and gone!" She exclaimed.

Aurora sighed. "We can't mourn Ig and the others forever, yes he's gone, but it's been _seventy years!_ And he was the most recent casualty! And I don't think it's healthy this much cabin fever build up, I swear, Emily certainly hasn't taken forty years of doing the same things well. Probably why she had Spin-spin almost eat Rya a little while ago."

" _Almost?_ Should I be concerned about that last statement?!" Soundwave asked.

Aurora shook her helm. "Cliffjumper was able to tell me what was going on and I swiftly put an end to it, in fact, Rya's a lot closer to Cliffjumper now, I think he's helping her get over Ig's passing." She admitted.

Soundwave jaw would've hit the floor if it was possible. "Rya… as in _the_ Rya, the demonic little fire cracker? Holy slag when did the apocalypse start?!" She joked, but her frames actions made it look like she was seriously panicking about the fact.

Aurora placed a single clawed digit on her chin. "Not sure, we haven't had any problems down here, but, up above? Who knows, I was up there two days ago on a job, but anything could happen right?" She asked.

Soundwave tilted her helm in confusion. "A job? When did you start taking up jobs?!" She exclaimed, they really were getting back involved with humans weren't they?

Although, Aurora had told her about the fact she'd taken up her role as the Queen of England's part time advisor again as well as being a negotiator for the British government, that would explain it, with possible MI5 involvement to boot.

"A crime boss was able to steal the crown jewels." Aurora answered, her joking tone completely gone.

"You dealt with them then? I assume that is." She enquired.

Aurora chuckled, her tone taking on one of a darker tone. "Eighteen dead from gunshot wounds, two of partial internal drowning and broken necks, and the crime boss himself? Internal combustion of the respiratory, digestive and circulatory systems." She answered, almost if in her opinion, they were just flies she'd swatted.

Soundwave shook her helm. "A little harsh? And what about your sires code?" She enquired.

Aurora turned her helm away from her friend, averting her optics from the stealth class Predacons gaze. "I guess… I have so much blood on my hands to begin with… I just, forget sometimes." She mumbled.

Soundwave placed a reassuring servo on her friend's upper arm. "You didn't know, besides, most of those times you'd either been tricked, or rage had clouded your judgement. What happened in the past is exactly that, the past. We can't change it, its set in stone and nothing will change because of it."

Aurora nodded her helm. "Your right, but rage is still something I am weak to, a curse you could say." She stated, apparently cheering up a bit.

Soundwave nodded her helm. "Now then, how about a game?"

Aurora grinned at her friend's suggestion. "You get the wall hoops; I'll locate some severed heads."

Soundwave shook her helm. "I will never understand your love for that Barbaric Incan sport."

Aurora narrowed her optics at the smaller femme. "You'd rather chess? Scrabble? Please Sound, I'll be unconscious in five minutes from boredom." She muttered.

"Then how about… I have to go, an Autobot ship has just entered the Solar system." She apologised.

Aurora nodded. "It's alright, Liara alerted me to the ship yesterday, she won't tell me who's in there though, oh well. Well, have fun, and here…" She said as she passed over a new replacement Starcream toy. "I've had a few fabricated, Laserbeak commed me to inform me the old one is basically no more. Now, see you soon, and be careful with the little ones." She remarked, patting her friends smaller shoulder plates.

"Don't worry, I will, I'll see you soon."

"Two weeks?"

"Yeah, I'll see you in two weeks."

* * *

Later that night Arcee's subconscious

It was now routine for them to meet, she would float in the oblivion for a while before he arrived; this time however, he looked a little more worn out than usual. "Long cycle?" She asked, noticing how he perked up at her voice.

"You have no idea, the youngest suggested I get some practice with the control over my element, was not expecting it to be so exhausting, but, that's how it is for beginners they say." He explained.

"Still not allowed to give me names?"

"Still not even allowed to tell you what genders they are."

"Even though I know one of them is a female?"

"Even though you know one of them is female, how's your own practice coming?" He asked, pulling her into his arms and settling into a cross pede position.

"I froze one of Ratchet's tools by accident, he's still trying to figure out how that happened, Roxy, you know, the cat, seems to love Prime, she was somehow curled up against his audio horn whilst he was working on the main console, he didn't even notice until Miko pointed it out." She chuckled, content with laying there, it was far better than him being offline, even if the only place she could see him was in her recharge.

Cliffjumper let off a short laugh. "I ended up stuck in the floor." He admitted.

One of her optic ridges raised slightly at the statement. "How?"

"Trust me, you do not want to know, let's just say, the largest of the group, is largest for a reason, and squabbling with the second youngest, no matter how much they needed to be put in their place, will get you, sat on." He admitted, neck cables pulling back into his shoulders and a pout forming on his lipplates.

Arcee failed to hold in the laugh which came forth at what she'd just heard, ending up as a strange snort. "What was the argument about?" She enquired.

"Apparently, I ruffled some of their feathers." He admitted.

"Feathers?"

Cliffjumper nodded. "Yeah, they've got a massive plume of them coming out of their helm, and what honestly looks like a feather boa around their neck, makes them look like a grey and blue vulture, I swear."

Arcee soaked up the new bit of information her mate had let slip like a sponge. "Grey and blue? Are you allowed to tell colours, or is that forbidden to and you just fragged up big time?" She joked.

Cliffjumper groaned, realising his mistake. "If the oldest finds out, they'll have me scrapped. Or give me to their younger siblings pet, that thing is nasty. And don't ask what it is, something tells me you'll see that pit spawn at some point, but I'll give you a hint, it had legs thicker than three hundred year old trees, and could easily hold Prime down." He admitted.

He felt her shudder slightly in his hold. "That, that's a pet? I can only imagine the guard dogs."

"I have an idea as to what those are, but, I haven't seen them personally yet, in a few months or so maybe, but not now. The Otami games aren't here yet."

"Otami games? What the frag is that?" Arcee asked, tilting her helm in confusion.

Cliffjumper shrugged. "No idea, but apparently it's a massive competition, split in three to celebrate their achivements in music, athletisimn and technology. And apparently I'll be in the VIP booth with the rest of the crazy group, turns out their kind of the ones who came up with the games and organise it." He tried to explain.

Arcee chuckled. "It sounds to me like it's more than just the small group, there a whole civilisation or something we aren't aware off that you're keeping from me?"

'Hit the nail on the head 'Cee' Cliffjumper thought, a little disappointed that he couldn't actually tell her about the Utopia city, akin to Cybertron's own Golden age, he had to hand it to Aurora and her siblings though, when they set their processors to something, they made sure no detail was left out, he checked, a human version of Cybertron, Prime would likely try and see if he was in a recharge or not when he first saw it.

"You'll just have to see for yourself one cycle." He rumbled, nuzzling the side of his helm with the side of hers, whilst being mindful of his two forward facing horns, they may off not been physical masses, but he still didn't want to hurt her.

Arcee huffed at his response, carefully taking her mates horns in her servos, it was strange to her still, his horns used to be small, resting atop his helm, now, they were where his audios should be, and they were long, bending down past his chin slightly, and forming dangerous edges, in truth, she liked it. "I'm… surprisingly okay with that." She muttered, before carefully pulling him into a kiss. After a moment she pulled away and gave him a curious look, which deepened when he gave a disappointed whine at being cut off so early. "You hear about the ship coming in tomorrow?" She asked.

Cliffjumper nodded his helm. "Pretty hard not to, the youngest was in a complete buzz over it, as were the rest of them, even who I assume is the unofficial carrier of the group, I haven't talked to her much, but I'm allowed to say her gender, she's using her body as a brace for the oldest sibling, the one you met, she was crippled a long time ago, can't fly anymore, but they'll be back in the air shortly, but also, they've been crippled a long time, and their likely going to be starting to relearn to fly not long after I've learnt everything. Pretty odd huh, anyway, don't be surprised if something odd happens, they're allowed to 'partially intervene' from now on, they can affect the battle field, but you aren't going to be able to see them basically. Hopefully." He tried to explain.

Arcee tried to take in all the information she could, the blue robbed one, was crippled, was a female, and was on her way to being at full capacity again, the youngest seemed to be quite active, and the second youngest sounded similar to Sunstreaker in personality. It was quite the strange group.

Cliffjumper froze, the tugging at the back of his helm telling him it was time to return to reality, carefully he rose back to his full height, his arms still wrapped tight around her as he gave her one last kiss. "I'll be back tomorrow night, like always." He muttered before pulling away.

Arcee smiled sadly as she watched him disappear into the dark void. "And I'll be here, waiting to be with you again."

* * *

 **And there we have it! Soundwave finally told Aurora about her carrying! And a bunch of other stuff I don't feel like listing right now, well, until next time, anyone want to say anything?**

 **Soundwave: One of them just kicked**

 **Aurora: Can I feel?**

 **Soundwave: Sure**

 **Rya: Where's Cliff?**

 **Sonic: Moon locked him in the closet, he doesn't know about Sound remember?**

 **Rya: Oh right, well, I think that's all, Moon?**

 **Moon: 'rubbing Soundwave's side.' Yeah, yeah, until next time all!**

 **Moon**


	10. A rose by any name, is still a rose

**Another chapter written! Not much to say other than anyone not seen in the series belongs to me! Okay... anything else... nope! Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 10

"I can't believe it!" Emily growled; tail slamming into the ground, carving a large gouge into it with the scythe like bladed tip.

"Believe it, we can't alert them to the fact he's an imposter." Rya growled, the plates that ran along her backstrut flaring, the eight large black spikes that sat on the end of her tail in two straight lines twitching in irritation. "We have to keep to the plan; otherwise Ro will have our helms." She all but hissed.

Razor glanced at the two of his sisters, they were currently in their beast forms, hiding at the entrance of a gorge not that far away from where 'Wheeljack' had crashed his ship, the real Wheeljack had been intercepted just as he reached the atmosphere, and was currently being held in the Decepticon's brig.

Soundwave was currently monitoring him to make sure he was kept online, but for now, he'd have to wait, their double agent couldn't do anything yet, it wasn't time for that, and she couldn't run the risk of jeopardizing her position.

Rya huffed as she rose to her pedes. "He's a Con in disguise, why are we even watching this? There's little we can do here." She huffed before storming away.

Locating a small, dried out bush, Rya took in a vent, before letting loose a torrent of fire upon the dried remains, igniting it so that she could use it to return to her room in the palace.

Emily and Razor watched her go for a few moments before Emily rose as well, yet held herself low to the ground so that the Autobots who had now arrived, wouldn't notice her.

She was quick to locate a small live bush, using the same method of transportation to teleport, only, instead of the palace, she had another destination.

Razor watched both his sisters leave, turning back to watch as Bulkhead hefted the con in disguise into his arms in a constricting bro hug.

Deciding it was time for himself to leave the area, he simply allowed the ground beneath him to swallow him whole, planning to speak to Aurora on her decision of Emily's role in the current situation.

* * *

Palace of the Titan's

Aurora groaned slightly as she strode into her berth room, her wings were cramping again, and Harp was struggling to keep them still.

Moving to a small cabinet hidden away from sight, she pulled out a large jar, almost too big for her servo, and filled with neon yellow pill like tablets.

Taking three of the pills into her servo she put the three into her mouth, deactivating her throat so that the pills wouldn't get shredded as she swallowed the pills, feeling them clang against the motionless protrusions in her neck cables.

When she was certain they wouldn't come back up, she made her way over to the large sofa and eased herself down onto it, laying in such a way that her wings weren't touching anything.

She hated this, hated how she was crippled like this, hated it with a burning passion how she'd been denied her title as the most feared being in the sky for so long.

Not that she'd be able to reclaim that title, at least, until her task was finally complete, and she was reunited, as well as the others, with those they held closest.

Then, and only then would she be able to soar the skies in her true form, blotting out the sun itself and casting entire cities into darkness.

The last time she'd been able to do that… so long ago it felt more like a whimsical dream then a real true memory,

No, her last flight hadn't been a dream, but a nightmare.

Before her thoughts could plunge any further it that night of terror, the door to her room was eased open slowly, revealing Razor to be standing there. "Can I come in Ro?" He asked.

She sent him a reassuring smile. "Why you lot ask permission to come in I will never understand." She muttered as she hoisted herself back into a seating position, patting the seat beside her in invitation.

Razor nodded as he strode over, lowering himself down onto the sofa on the opposite side to Aurora. "Are you sure it was wise to send _Emily_?" He asked.

One of Aurora's optic ridges raised in slight confusion. "She's proven herself sane enough to perform this task without revealing who she is Razor, you should have more trust in your sister than that surely?" She enquired.

Razor gave her a similar look. "Ro, we both know that Emily's got more screws lose then even George had at the end of his rein, for the love of the Ancients he thought he was a damn frog at one point!" He exclaimed the last part.

Aurora let out a sigh as she leant her left side into the sofa, partially closed fist coming to rest on her chin. "I understand your concern, but we both know the damage done to her mind will take longer than forty years to repair, and I have hopes that this new responsibility she'll have to take from now on, will help her get back on track, yes she's not the same Emily as before, but none of us are the same as we first where when we came into the world Razor, things happen which are out of our control, which shift the balance of who we are, and Emily… she didn't deserve anything that life threw at her that day, we both know that, just like how you weren't able to stop the massacre of that village you'd become close to." She stated.

"It wasn't the village." Razor murmured. Aurora shuttered her optics a few times before realising her mistake, a mournful look taking over her features. "Oh… right… it was…"

Whatever she was about to say was interrupted when Sonic came storming into the room, a look of absolute murder on his faceplates.

"Where. Is. Emily?" He growled, fists clenching at his sides with barely controlled rage.

Aurora and Razor exchanged a worried look before Razor answered with. "Off on a task, why do you ask? And what got you so upset Sonic?" He asked, using the mechs actually name, knowing not to push his luck at the moment with one of his brother's nicknames.

"That… That… Emily's… thing… ate Uri's Rose." He hissed out.

Time seemed to stop in the room as the two seated members of the family tried to process what had just been said to them.

Aurora then said, barely above a whisper. "Ancients, this is not good." Rising from her place on the sofa she strode over to Sonic and placed a reassuring servo on his shoulder plate, being mindful of the large plume of metallic feathers which lined her brother's collar. "When Emily gets back, I'll inform her of the situation, and make sure she understands that Spin-spin isn't allowed out of the greenhouse. And that she is to be kept in her pen." She stated.

Sonic shook his helm. "Wrong pet." He muttered.

Aurora stalled for a moment, horror quickly taking over her features. "You don't mean…"

"Iyubi got out." Sonic muttered darkly, just as a crashing sound originated from the hall outside.

The two could audibly hear Razor's gulp. "You are fucking kidding me…" He muttered as dread filled all three members of the group.

A thought came to Aurora then, and the dread within her tripled in strength. "Razor… where's Rya and Cliffjumper?" She asked.

Razor stalled for a moment, realising what was about to occur. "In training room seven I think… right next to the main… kitchen… oh fuck."

* * *

One of the many, many corridors

"WHAT THE HOLY SLAG IS THAT THING?!" Cliffjumper very nearly screeched as he and Rya tried to hold the doors to the kitchen in place as… whatever that thing inside was, tried to force its way out.

"Iyubi! Emily's first ever attempt at screwing with nature!" Rya cried, very nearly being knocked off the door with the most recent blow, thankfully, Cliffjumper's tail had wrapped tight around her middle, like hers had with his own waist, the spikes on her tail lowering so that the risk of her impaling him were far lower than they normally would be.

Cliffjumper growled low in his chassis as a gap formed between the doors, his claws digging as deep as they would go into the ground as the creature, apparently called Iyubi, tried to force its way out.

Giving him a clear view of the living gelatinous masses immeasurable amount of mismatched and misplaced eyes, its wide, gaping mouth, and the putrid black odour pouring off the creature in thick noxious plumes.

Rya grunted as she tried to keep her door closed, just waiting for Cliffjumper to try another question.

It came not that later. "What the frag did Emily do?!" He exclaimed, getting his helm out of the way just in time to avoid the creatures human like hand as it rocketed through the thin gap, reforming a fist and punching a hole clear through the wall on the other side of the door.

"Oh fuck! Cliffjumper! Run!" Rya screeched/honked, transforming into her beast form the moment she let go, quickly followed by the larger Predacon as they ran away from the doors, just as they were blown clear off their reinforced hinges.

Iyubi let off what could only be described as a garbled roar, the upper and lower parts of its mouth partially fused by strands of the stretchy black sludge that covered its body.

The creatures hundreds of eyes locked onto their retreating forms, the collective sight organs narrowing as it began following, at a surprisingly higher speed then Cliffjumper would've hope for,

* * *

Nemesis

Unaware of the current situation at the Palace, Emily watched from her place gripping tightly to the ceiling, eyes focused on the guard who was just leaving, she had about five minutes until the next guard arrived.

Apparently they believed the Wrecker beneath her could be left alone for a few minutes between guard changes.

Big mistake.

The door slid shut and Emily lowered herself slowly onto the ground behind the currently immobile Wrecker, letting off a light giggle to gain his attention.

"What the? Who the scraps there?!" He growled, trying to turn his helm round to look over his shoulder, but Emily easily stopped him, wrapping her clawed digits around the back of his helm and keeping him facing forwards, as she herself lowered her helm slightly to whisper in his audio.

"Just someone unimportant… for now. So, having fun here on Earth so far?" She enquired, knowing that he likely hadn't and wouldn't answer that last part.

Wheeljack growled. "Who are you femme!?" He demanded, her hunch proven correct.

Emily chuckled. "Call me Endor, for now. That was part of my last name… a long time ago." She chuckled.

Wheeljack scowled, he'd never heard of a 'Con called Endor, at least, a femme by that designation, and she mentioned a last name, meaning that Endor wasn't her actual designation. "Don't trust me enough to know your designation then?" He enquired.

Emily smirked. "Pretty much. You gotta earn that." She almost purred, feeling the forked ends of her glossa flick out for a split second.

"I've never heard of a con like you Endor." He stated.

Emily really laughed when she heard that, the sound very nearly an out of control cackle.

At least, until she caught herself, laughing like that never helped her sanity, it only made it worse, coughing slightly to try and get past the urge to laugh like a maniac again she stated. "That's because I'm not a Decepticon, nor am I an Autobot, or a neutral." She stated.

Now this perked his interest. "Then what are you?" He asked.

"I'm from a… small group, we support the Autobot cause, but we don't take part in battles, we like to… well… actually, I don't feel like telling you. But know this, believe it or not, but I've been sent to help you." She stated,

Wheeljack chuckled himself. "Really? Then get me out of these bonds." He stated.

Emily hummed. "Not allowed to, neither is a friend of mine, too much risk, so, I'll give you a tip, the next guard who comes in, get his attention, and use what you've got available to trick him into shooting the console, that'll get you free. Oh and let Prime know, Cliffjumper's in good servos."

Her claws let go of his helm, and before he could so much as turn his helm, she was gone.

He was however, able to spot the seed which fell to the floor, instantly sprouting and producing a red and green petal flower as its roots dug into the metal floor, it was a small flower, but it was all he had to go on. And the mention of Cliffjumper being with them… what was going down on this planet he'd yet to be clued in on?!

* * *

Palace of the Titans

Emily's smug faceplates quickly morphed into that of horror when she used one of the potted plants she'd scattered around the Palace for easy access, her intention being to grab something eat from the pantry.

Only to find ever surface covered in a slime far too familiar for her not to know the cause.

"Shit. Aurora's going to kill me." She muttered, before bolting out the room to try and locate her wayward failed experiment, knowing now was the time to be focused, in control, and not likely to cause a larger problem by trying to fix this mess.

Like how she used to be, before her own version of 'it' happened.

She was quick to follow the slime trail that Iyubi had left behind, and internally, Emily was constantly berating herself.

Why hadn't she checked Iyubi?

Mostly her attention had been taken up by Cliffjumper's arrival, and everything since.

Had she remembered to feed the creature?

Yes, that factor she didn't neglect on.

Why did she even create Iyubi in the first place?!

Right, she wasn't as right in the head back then.

Not that she was completely right in the helm now.

She really had to decide which terminology she was going to go by, the one from before her life got smashed through a wall, or the one that her siblings for the most part expressed.

Her inner musings where cut short when she came around a single bend, just in time to hear a roar coming from the other corridor which made up the T-junction.

Her helm snapped round just in time to see Aurora draw her preferred weapon, the heavily upgraded and modified rifle which she'd spent a fair number of years working on to perfect.

"Eat plasma Iyubi!" Aurora shouted, Emily, being wise to not be on the receiving end of her sister when pissed, was quick to duck back behind the wall. In truth, she didn't want Iyubi to perish, she was her first creation, sure, she'd made the fusion monstrosity at a time she could no longer even remember, but Iyubi was still a living being, albeit, part tar, but still alive enough for her not to want this to happen.

But in that film she'd watched once, Old Yeller, if she remembered correctly, it was time to put Iyubi down, the creature was just too dangerous now.

The silver and white plasma beam shot past where she was looking, the shot continuing on to take out anything in its way as it continued on, it's energy would run out after tunnelling a good way through the solid rock, but Emily was still left in awe either way of her sisters weapon, and the sheer power it wielded.

Stepping back out from the wall, she realised her decision to duck had another merit.

Seeing as Aurora, and what she could only assume was Cliffjumper, who was holding Rya against him, where all covered in Iyubi's tar like juices.

 _Lovely_.

With an embarrassed and heavily regretful laugh, she stepped fully into view. "At least I helped out Wheeljack?"

She flinched, just waiting to hear one of her siblings explode at her, most likely it being Rya or Aurora.

But, surprise, surprise, all she got was a good deal of tar in the faceplates.

Aurora huffed as she cast Rya an offput look, the femme, being the one to throw the tar, understandable though, seeing as Iyubi had had her halfway into its mouth when she shot it.

Turning her attention back towards the femme who matched her in almost every feature other than colour and the single gold ring around her middle, Aurora stated. "I want you to check Iyubi's cell, I want to know exactly how it got out, and it's your job to locate Uri's rose, Iyubi ate it."

Emily visibly paled at her sisters revelation. "You mean…"

Sonic came round the corner then, frame livid. "Yes you glitch helm! That freak of nature you're fucking screwed up mind created! Ate Uri's rose! Now give it back you retarded psycho!" He screeched.

"Sonic!" Aurora shouted, her tone that of anger, causing Sonic to flinch back. "We all know Emily created Iyubi at a difficult time! You do not call her out on it or call her such things! If anything blame me!" She growled, armour plates flaring out as a show of dominance, yet her wings remained taut and pinned to her backstrut as always, even though they were clearly trying to spread wide on their own.

Sonic backed down immediately, realising he had crossed a thin line when it came to Emily's mental state, turning back, he saw the reason for Aurora's sudden anger.

Emily stood right in front of him, entire frame shaking and lubricant pooling under her optics, and in her servo, was Uri's rose, the stunning sapphire and emerald crystal ornament grasped carefully within two shaking digits.

Slowly, he took the rose back, already cleaned of any previous tar.

Before he could apologise, Emily bolted back towards the other end of the corridor, towards her greenhouse.

"Emily!" Aurora shouted, about to follow but halted in her place, a look of loss on her faceplates.

Cliffjumper was the first to notice, and knew right away that the Titan femme, had no idea how she could fix this, her mind had drawn a blank on how to comfort her distressed sister.

Instead, her loss turned to anger once again as she spun on her brother.

"Look at what you've done now." She hissed, blade like dentas clenched and grinding against one another.

Sonic took a few steps back as Aurora towered over him, Sonic, was at the most, slightly over Ratchet's height, meaning that one taller than Optimus, like Aurora was, towered some distance over him anyway.

"I have asked, and asked and asked! Fuck it I **_begged_**! That for once! Just bloody once! I asked if you could show some damn compassion towards your sister!? No?! Then don't ever let me see you cause that reaction from her again! Go and jump into the mirror of yours!" She bellowed before storming off the other way, her shoulders sagged.

From his position, Cliffjumper could see her wipe her own optics with the back of her servo.

Finally placing Rya down he ran up to Aurora, tapping the femme on the lower shoulder, the furthest he could reach easily.

Aurora slowed in her pace, but kept helm forwards. "Y-yes C-cliffjumper?"

From this distance, the shaking which seemed to pulsate across her protoform was clear to see in the area on her arms, pedes and abdomen in which the dual colour armour was not able to hide.

"I'll go talk with Emily, you go get yourself together, this group needs you Aurora, just, keep calm and we'll get through this bump in the road." He tried to reassure her.

Aurora very nearly just dropped her servo onto his shoulder plate, only just pulling back her strength enough not to possibly break something within the mechs shoulder, a small smile appearing on what he could see of her faceplates.

"Thank you… Cliff."

With that, she walked away, towards her room he believed, he notices Harp shift on her wings, pulling them upwards by the slightest degree before the Titan femme took a corner and disappeared from sight.

Turning back, he was already heading towards where Emily had bolted when, Sonic stepped in front of him.

Rose held out to him.

Cliffjumper shuttered his optics a few times, why this rose was so important he had no clue, but it was certainly stunning in every way shape and form.

He heard Rya gasp behind him. "Sonic… Why are you?"

Sonic shook his helm. "It's time I let go of Uri, give this to Emily, Cliffjumper please, tell her that I… I take what I said back, it was wrong of me." He muttered, pushing the crystal rose into his servos, before walking away, wings tucked close to his back strut.

He turned his helm to look at Rya, who'd fallen deathly silent.

Just in time to see a spark fly from her helm and her frame to slump to the ground.

Before he could get down and try and pick her up, Razor already had her over one shoulder, once again showing the sheer strength the Spinoformer had, when the massive mech had arrived Cliffjumper wasn't sure, normally his pedes shook the ground with every step, but he hadn't even noticed this time. "Go talk to Emily, I'll keep an optic on my sisters and Sonic." He stated.

Cliffjumper nodded, watching in clearly visible shock as Razor hefted Sonic up under his other arm, the mech, for likely the first time in eons, didn't make a single complaint, didn't even try and wrestle himself free.

The mech just hung there, seemingly completely lost in his own mind.

Taking this as his que, he made his way to the greenhouse. The place he figured was the best place to start looking for the distressed femme.

* * *

Outpost Omega one

Arcee watched from the corner as Ratchet examined the flower the real Wheeljack had brought with him.

Apparently, a femme had told him how he could escape, without allowing him to see her, apparently she was going by the designation Endor until she trusted him enough with her true designation.

She'd then disappeared, leaving only a rose behind.

"It's Earth based, yet, not."

Arcee huffed. "That's helpful Ratchet, really helpful."

She only just dodged the wrench in time, ducking down and then hissing at the mech, slit optics narrowing and claws digging into the ground for grip.

Silence filled the main area as the rest of the group stared at her, Miko even turning off her music to openly stare at the only femme present.

Realising what she'd done, she straightened herself, retracting her claws out of the ground and shuffling her pedes. "Sorry Ratchet, this Predacon stuff is really starting to influence me."

They'd all noticed, low growls had become common sounds around base when the femme was irked by something, yes she was taking the changes better now, why she hadn't explained, but it seems to of sped up the progress of her metamorphosis.

Wheeljack looked over to the femme, he'd been wondering since he arrived why the femme looked so… odd, the slit optics being the first thing he'd noticed.

Overall, the femme looked very much… he believed the humans called it Dragonic.

But then she mentioned Predacon.

"Err, what did she mean by that?" He asked.

Optimus turned to face the wrecker. "Arcee was badly injured a month or so ago, something saved her, but in the process, altered her spark, into that of a Predacons, we are yet to work out who performed the alteration, Cliffjumper, Arcee's mate, was recently offlined by Starscream, but we have evidence to believe that the same force which gave Arcee her new spark, reanimated Cliffjumper as a fully-fledged Predacon." He explained.

Wheeljack stared at him for a moment, then his optics migrated to the rose, the femmes last statement ringing in his helm. "I think 'Endor' was one of them. She said just before she left 'Oh and let Prime know, Cliffjumper's in good servos.' Femme seemed pretty unhinged though if you ask me, couldn't stop laughing half the time." He muttered.

Arcee perked up at this, this meant that Endor was a different member of the group, Blue Robe, as she now referred to the female figure, had been quite in control of her emotions, level helmed and well attuned, which meant that this one was practically Blue robes polar opposite from what Wheeljack was saying. "Any other details we should know about?" She enquired, she was working hard to understand as much about the group as she could, and so far she knew that Blue robe was, she assumed, the oldest, and currently crippled with an injury, there seemed to be at least two Cybertronians, she assumed again, in the group, the one she'd seen when she had been taken to receive her element, and this one, as apparently the femme was made of metal and was actually able to tower over Cliffjumper.

Then there was their behaviours, this new one was unhinged, possibly volatile and just as cryptic with her answers as Blue robe, but at least this one gave a name. One appeared to be the calmest of the group, and the largest, a gentle giant, the youngest was witty, fast and easy to go on the offensive, and the final member of the group so far, was vainer then any would believe possible.

Realising the conversation had gone on without her, she turned to Jack and began conversing with her charge about her changes instead.

* * *

Greenhouse

"Emily? Where are you?" He called, trying to follow the wailing screeches which filled the glass building, but they seemed to bounce off every wall, meaning locating the actual source was proving nigh impossible, even the plant life didn't try to attack him like they had during the spider web incident, they seemed withdrawn, pulling into themselves, if plants could do that, but in this greenhouse, he didn't doubt it.

After a good few breems of searching however, he was able to locate her.

What she was with however, truly threw him for a loop.

A Vickers Viscount, four prop engine, sat on a strip of tarmac, hidden within a hanger at the back of the greenhouse.

It was in pieces, the craft being held in shape by a thick wire frame, all the glass was gone, and the pieces were practically fragments, heavily charred, and some parts of the craft, including the rudder at the back, where gone entirely.

And lying underneath, curled up into a foetal position and shaking heavily, was Emily.

Cliffjumper slowly walked over, placing a gentle servo on her shoulder, and shaking it ever so slightly.

One optic cracked open, and Cliffjumper came face to face, with emotions he'd never before seen in the femme, grief, confusion, terror, and loss.

"Emily… Oh Primus." Now he knew why the others had been so worried.

Slowly, he was able to pull her into a sitting position, she didn't fight at all, she was too distraught to even focus on something.

He waited, waited for her to calm down, after a moment, he'd wrapped an arm around her backstrut, being mindful of her wings, and pulled her into a sideways hug.

The next hour or so he just sat in silence, waiting for her to recover enough to be coherent.

Finally that time came, with a final chocked sob, she wiped her optics with the back of her servo, turned to face him, and crushed him to her in a hug.

For a second or two, Cliffjumper lost all feeling bellow where Emily's vice like grip was around his middle, after those few seconds she let go, and turned to face the shattered craft.

"I died in that."

Cliffjumper's helm snapped round to face her, surely she hadn't just said that… right?

"I died in that, and my body was the only one that could be recovered, the rest… to badly damaged to be recovered. My entire family… all dead. Me included." Emily murmured. Red and green optics focused on the craft.

"My name, used to be Emmaline, Emmaline Endormire. Third youngest of my family, my mum, dad, aunts, uncles, grandparents, little b-brothers… all gone, one… one faulty engine. On fire… everything…everything was burning, the smoke was noxious, screaming, so much screaming, then, the left fuel tank ignited… that's all I remember, I woke up like this, Ro peering over me, a look of horror on her face, I held up my new servo, saw the claws click together… and I lost it. I lost my mind. Insane."

Cliffjumper just sat there in silence beside the large femme, waiting for her to elaborate.

A chuckle was what became his answer. "Y-you know how Sonic said I was retarded? He wasn't far off." She asked before adding the final part as an afterthought, it sounded like she was trying to joke around, lighten the mood maybe? He wasn't sure, but he still nodded.

She tapped the side of her helm. "Piece of shrapnel, entered through the left side of my skull." Her claw traced just over her optics before flicking towards the right. "And out the other side, took a good chunk of my brain with it. They never found it, and ever since I've had a hole straight through my processor/brain, the size of a beer mug in my bipedal form, and a two pound coin in human… So yeah, I'm mentally unstable, unfortunately, part of what I lost was my ability to well… cope I guess." She sighed before glancing over to Cliffjumper. "Oh, and I already knew my now siblings before the incident." She admitted.

Cliffjumper's optic ridge rose up. "How?" He enquired.

Emily shrugged. "My family worked beside Aurora and her siblings, had for about… three hundred years or something, we were too close to just forget them when they went underground, so, every few months or so, the entire, yes, entire family travelled here to South Africa to come down to the Cavern to update them on what had been happening, when it happened, Sonic alerted Razor and Rya to the situation and well, you can kind of guess they searched for survivors, but I was the only salvageable one. Well, they found most of me at least, head, foot, and I think a shoulder, that's all they found of me" She muttered, Cliffjumper felt a shiver go down his spinal strut. "I should've accepted it a long time ago... but something, something won't let me ever forget the dying screams of my family. I want to move on with my life Cliff… I've tried so hard to move on… it's why I create! To try and bury myself in my creations, but their screams haunt my every waking second." She whimpered. "I want it to stop Cliff, I want the screams to go away, I want to remember the good times, with my family, like when we all got together at the manor for thanksgiving… or sitting next to the Christmas tree… or even visiting the royals! But I can't… I just can't remember the happy times, it's like they're locked away, and no matter what I try… no matter how many times I try to remember the good times… I can't, only the screams." She muttered, her helm now resting in her palms, tail twitching sporadically behind her.

Cliffjumper wasn't sure what to say, all he could do was wrap his arm around her shoulder plate.

Finally, he found the ability to speak again. "If it makes you feel better, I didn't notice you having anything wrong with you, compared to some of the bots and cons I've fought with and against, you seem pretty stable. From my experience at least."

And once again, he was being crushed in a hug, only this time, Emily seemed to forget not to crush him. "Emily! Can't vent!"

"Oh scrap! Sorry!"

* * *

 **Well there you have it, Emily's backstory, there are a few details still to be worked out, but they'll come to light later, anyway, I am currently working on a picture of Aurora's bipedal form, and I should have it up on my deviantart account Moonlightdeer739 within the next few days, I hit a it of a writers block a while back, and only now have I shaken it off, hence why I haven't updated any of my stories recently, which I heavily apologise for. Now then, anyone?**

 **...**

 **Ah right, well then, until next time!**

 **Moon**


	11. Well that was unexpected

**Okay, slight warning, the next few chapters, spellchecker stopped working, so if you see any errors, I apologise. Chapter 15 is now complete... by Primus it ended up longer then I was expecting anyway, hope you all enjoy! Aurora and the other characters mentioned that are not part of the original series are mine, except those who exist in the real world. Anything else? No? Okay, on with the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 11

Two weeks later

Aurora barely held in a growl as she regarded the man speaking in front of her.

They were currently 10,000 feet up, on route to Moscow Russia via her own recently acquired private jet, she'd been called to Russia by one of the head members of Parliament, apparently her close ties with the royal family made her the perfect candidate for being sent around the world to speak with world leaders.

Meaning she'd had to cancel the shopping trip, she'd alerted Soundwave to that fact about an hour ago on the jets phone.

The man in front of her, was at most, in his early forties, and speaking Russian like it was going out of style, thankfully, like all human languages, Aurora was fluent in it.

"Once again Lady Tinuma, may I praise you on your radiant look this day, the stars themselves pale in comparison to your beauty!"

'Oh fragging perfect, a suck up who just won't shut the frag up to save his own life.' She growled internally, before stating aloud. "Mr Alyokhin! Please, we are en-route to a private conference, not an arranged meeting to create a relationship with myself and your head of country or something like that!" She snapped in her own fluent Russian.

She was tense enough as it was, she was going to be speaking, diplomatically no less, with the man who was currently keeping her sires gift from her. To make it worse she had to somehow get through an _hour_ or so long meeting with the man, having to look at a piece of her _sire's_ _spark,_ if it was a normal gem that some human had stolen from her, and know it was all but unattainable.

Hence, why she was one comment about her looks, away from jumping in the glass of water on the table and just say screw it to the man in front of her seeing it!

Or even better, throwing the man out of the emergency escape and just let him fall to his death.

That's how tense and irritated she was at the moment.

* * *

Two hours later

"Ah! The queen's advisor! Welcome Rosaline!"

'Well he's jollier then I thought possible.' Aurora pondered in her head.

And that's when she spotted it, hanging from a broad gold necklace, surrounded by gems and jewels which couldn't even hold a flickering match to the importance of the centre piece, still wrapped within the armour of her sire.

Dear ancients, something inside her began screaming, the very same scream that had cried out when she was being evacuated all those eons ago.

It was the desire to be held by her sire, and even after all these eons it would not shut up.

To be close, to have contact with the being she imprinted on before her egg had even hatched in his servos.

And a piece of him, a piece that if she touched, he would feel, was right in front of her, within her very reach!

It was glowing bright, the white with red and blue swirls seeming to call to her, pulsating slightly towards her, like it knew, that she was standing there, in the doorway.

Reigning control back over her frame, she strode up to the man, and took his extended hand and gave a firm shake, her grip a little too tight though it would seem from his wince.

"You have a good grip Mrs Tinuma. Now then, let us get down to business… the current 'situations'."

That was why she was here, not to allow her eyes to flicker between his eyes, and her lost treasure. Russia was currently a bit too riled up for the UN's liking due to the current conflicts occurring in the Middle East. And it was her job to try and work out a way which everyone could be happy, as a representative of both British and Global interests.

It would seem that Elizabeth had pulled quite a few strings to get everyone to put so much trust in her abilities so quickly, she'd hadn't had to deal with this kind of talk since WW2.

But with her sire's spark fragment, the difficulty of her own situation was made so much harder. She knew though, deep down, that she was not to try and take it, not even touch it or focus her attention on it like a gawking tourist, Vladamir seemed to of been oblivious to how the crystal glowed brighter when she had shook his hand, but she hadn't been. She had to focus, getting the fragment back wasn't her priority, it was safe, and, taking it now would cause serious problems, both in the political world, and with her sire having a way to locate her. She simply couldn't risk it.

* * *

Their meeting lasted a good hour and a half as she had expected, and throughout that time, Aurora had been very much at her wits end internally, but by some miracle, she'd been able to maintain her mask.

Rising from her seat, she extends her hand to him. "I hope we've reached a decision?" She asked, taking the man's hand again and giving it a firm shake, this time controlling her grip a bit more.

Vladamir nodded, before gazing down at the crystal, she quickly let go, and it returned to it's dimmer glow.

"Hmmm. I will have to ask if the lights have been altered, normally it doesn't glow so bright," He muttered, before turning his attention back to Aurora. "You know, Mrs Windsor never did explain why she wanted this gem so badly, but she seems persistent to acquire it. Do you know why?"

Instantly she reached out to Soundwave, who quickly understood the situation, a handy bonus with being the guardian of the mind, all one needed to do was known she was there, and reach out to her, it was the closest thing she and her siblings had to a bond.

'He's just curious, he doesn't suspect you.' Soundwave responded.

Relieved that he had not caught onto anything, she answered him. "No, I only just started working with her Majesty a few weeks ago, and today, I am here on behalf of the British Parliament, not by her Majesty's orders." She stated.

Vladamir nodded. "Very well, if she ever tells you though, let me know, alright?"

'He doesn't plan to return it.' Soundwave whispered into her minds ear.

She was just able to keep herself from doing something rash. "Of course, now, I must be on my way."

With that said, she briskly strode out of the room, the nagging in the back of her helm finally fading back into the depths she'd buried it eons ago.

She spotted the car waiting for her the moment she stepped out of the building, the driver waiting with the door open and welcoming her inside.

Once inside she picked up the phone which was built into the back seats arm rest. Typing in the number she wanted she put it to her ear, watching as the driver, actually a member of MI5, got behind the wheel and started the reinforced Rolls Royce. "Elizabeth? Yes, its been dealt with… yes, he was wearing it…don't worry, he is unaware of what it is or how important it is to me…yes the miscommunication have been dealt with… no he made no gestures towards me, he thinks I'm just a twenty year old woman, the man on the plane though… and don't worry, I dealt with him the moment we landed… no I did not push him out the door before the stairs had arrived… how did you even know I… oh Sound… 0k yes, I'm heading home now to make sure an all-out war hasn't broken out in the living room. Ok, bye Liz." Taking the phone away from her ear she glanced to the driver, spotting that they were on an empty stretch of road, the closest vehicle being a mini-van about six miles ahead, the benefits of having eagle like vision.

She glanced to the driver. "Don't slow down, I'll make my own way home from here, and have the jet fly back to England, I'd rather not deal with the media." She stated. "Oh, and tell anyone what you're about to see, and you'll be dead in less than a week." She warned, her tone as cold as the icy landscape around them.

The driver nodded his head, keeping his focus on the road.

Aurora smirked. "Good driver."

With that, she threw the door open, and jumped out, much to the shock of the driver.

Twisting in mid-air, she landed on her dark blue heels, already ahead of the vehicle in a matter of seconds, even with it going at the eighty mile an hour speed limit.

Within moments, she'd shifted into her smallest true form, easily towering over the power lines running along the side of the motorway.

She had to leave breadcrumbs every now and then for her sire.

Without waiting for any kind of cue, she began picking up speed, it was what she was built for, and within moments, she'd over taken the mini-van in a full out gallop, her long and powerful strides propelling her at speeds beyond that of any human speed limit.

Trees shook in her wake, whilst shocked/terrified motorists hammered their horns with what sounded like sledgehammers they were hitting them so hard. Or it could've been the sound of her own feet as they pounded against the tarmac.

She was well aware of Russians having dash cameras, and she was using it to her advantage.

Wings held tight to her side she allowed her streamlined form to accelerate further, pumping energy from her furnace into the muscles in her limbs, sending her racing faster and faster.

And just like that, without even having to spread her wings, she broke the sound barrier, the event occurred thankfully, where there weren't any vehicles, there was a few behind her, but that was about it, meaning the shockwave only left a thin yet deep crack in the tarmac at the point where it occurred.

She spotted a dual hairpin bend up ahead, and on the other side of the barrier, a large frozen over lake.

With a single well placed bound, she was sailing through the air, her wings fighting to be released, thankfully Harp was there to hold them in place so they didn't get any more damaged.

She smashed through the meter thick ice, and quickly teleported back to South Africa, before the large waves she'd created by her impact even reached the ships frozen in place at the small port she'd just missed.

* * *

One hour later, Autobot Outpost Omega One.

"Optimus!" Raf yelled, catching all in the main areas attention. "I think I just found Aurora!" He exclaimed.

They had never seen the mech move so quickly, the large mech already peering at the tiny screen, watching the dash cam camera of what appeared to be a mini-van, as a massive blue dragon raced past, scythe like blade very nearly slicing through the front bumper before it disappeared around a tight bend.

The rest of the bots all tried to see the video, along with that of Miko and Jack.

"Okay, that's awesome." Miko stated.

Arcee stared at the dragon, it had the exact same colours as the picture they had all been shown by Ratchet, and those very same colours matched the ones on Blue robe.

But the only thought which reached the femmes helm was 'will I be that fast?'

Optimus turned to look directly at Raf. "Are there any more?" He enquired.

Raf nodded. "Tons, it was spotted running along that road for a good fifty miles, but it just kept getting faster, it actually broke the sound barrier just before it leapt off the road and dived into a frozen lake, the News is over the lake now." He explained as he pulled up the current news, showing a bird's eye view of a massive hole in the ice which used to cover the entirety of the lake.

 _"_ _This is Isabella Sharpena reporting live from the scene where a large blue 'dragon', vanished, multiple videos have been published already about the fast moving creature as it charged along the freeway, believers and skeptics alike are already questioning if the videos where real, but this is live coverage, and there is definitely a hole in the ice here at lake Klyazminskoye where the 'dragon' was seen leaping from the freeway, the 'dragon' has so far not reserfaced, and already crowds of people are flocking to see if the creature will reamerge, for now, this is Isabella Sharpena signing off, back to you in the studio Philip."_ A hispanic woman with long black hair spoke as she sat within a news helicopter, the view having shifted a few times to show the large gap in the ice.

Jack whistled. "Looks like either dragons really do exist, or Aurora, has made a public appearance." He stated, not noticing the 'duh' look Miko was giving him.

Ratchet hummed as he analysed the image. "But why Russia, and why now? Why after no evidence, does she suddenly cause such a stir? Rafael has there been anything major occuring in the surrounding area which might clue into her appearance?" He enquired.

Raf hummed as he turned his laptop around and began typing, after a few moments he seemed to find something, "Got it! There was a private meeting with Vladamir Putin and… a British negotiator, Rosaline Tinuma, a close friend of the Royal Family in the UK. She arrived into the public eye a few weeks ago, but look, around Putin's neck, the 'Dragon's heart'." He said, pointing to the large gem.

Optimus openly stared in disbelief, having dulled his link to the crystalised piece of his spark to the point in which he barely had a link with it to speak of, he knew it would glow brighter when close to its intended wearer, but since it had been stolen, something he was well aware off, he'd lost track of who had physical possesion of part of his form, and seeing it around this mans neck only reminded him of how close yet far away he was from locating his daughter.

Ratchet glanced at the silent Prime. "I think we can guess why she was in Russia, but, that lake is a good distance away from the country's capital." He muttered.

Raf's hand shot into the air, akin to when he'd be in school. "Err Ratchet, eye witness reports state that the 'dragon's' velocity, generated a sonic boom, she was moving at speeds of at least mach 1, I wouldn't put it behind her… Whoa! Guys! I was trying to slow down the video! And look!" He exclaimed, spinning the laptop round on his lap so they could see the screen again.

Even though the video was slowed down so heavily, the blue dragon seemed like it was moving at adverage speed, as it turned its head to the camera, a wide smirk on it's faceplates.

Then, a voice was heard.

 _"_ _Until all, are one, and all are reunited again."_

The video sped up again to full speed without a single button pressed, and all they could see in time was her form taking the same turn as before and disapearing.

The silence in the room was palpable.

At least until a message from Agent Fowler came in.

 _"_ _PRIME!"_

* * *

Palace of the Titan's

"Why…"

'THUNK'

"OW!"

"Did…"

'THUNK'

"OW!"

"You…"

'THUNK'

"OW!"

"Do…"

"Emily! I swear to the Ancients themselves you hit me with that log one more time and I'll throw you and that damn thing into a wood chipper!" Aurora yelled, finally getting Emily to stop her attack using the massive piece of tree.

Emily huffed as she easily placed the log over one shoulder. "Then you shouldn't of done something like that!" She exclaimed.

"I told her to." Everyone but Aurora bowed their helms to the ground as Liara appeared from one of the shadows, hauling her massive form into view yet remaining in the darkness which billowed out from around her form like a plume of black smoke, obscuring her from view.

Aurora shifted into her beast form, thanking the ancients that Cliffjumper had so far decided to recharge in, and had been in that recharge state for the good part of today already. "Liara, I assume you came to check up on us? I've already recived your message on Fowler's little 'problem' I plan to send Emily, Razor and myself out there." She stated.

Liara shook her head. "No child, you stay here, let Cliffjumper go in your place."

Aurora stuttered for a moment before nodding her helm, there was no point arguing with her, Liara knew what she was doing, she knew what was coming, and had been her mentor since she'd first arrived on Earth, now was not the time to judge her only remaining biological family member. "I understand, Rya, go wake Cliffjumper." She asked, tail flicking towards the open door to tell the youngest she could go.

Rya was out the door in less then a heart beat, leaving only Aurora, Emily and Razor in the room with the adult Titan, Sonic had barricaded himself in his room after the incident with Iyubi, and the sapphire and emerald rose had been placed in a crystal vase in the main living room.

Emily twitched where she stood, curiosity burning within her, but that was quickly stomped down, it was a major offense to a Titan with a title like Liara, to be looking upon them without permission, to her knowledge, only Aurora had that priveleage, and it was mostly due to her being Liara's neice.

"…I must return to my domain, Aurora, I will alert you when the next intervention is due, and you two… keep her from doing anything stupid, alright?" The smirk was audible in her tone, causing an indignant snort to leave the blue Titan.

Emily and Razor nodded in tandom, waiting for the dying moans to finally silence before they raised their view from the ground again.

"Ro, you're aunt just loves to screw with you doesn't she?" Razor joked.

He was given only moments to react before her scythe like blade sliced through the air where the Spinoformer's helm had been. "Shut up Razor, I'll monitor the procedings from here, now get out there and make sure everything goes to plan!" She barked out.

They too quickly left the room, leaving Aurora to stand along in the entrance hall, with a sigh she shifted back into her bipedal state, peering over her shoulder to look at Harp. "Sometimes I wish my life was less complicated." She mutterd.

She felt Harp tighten slightly around her wing bases, a small message pinged up in front of her vision, alerting her to the fact that Harp had said something.

 **"** **Then life would be a piece of white paper."**

"Why not blue paper? Or yellow? Or any colour? Why white?"

 **"** **It's a human saying, and you know how I hate trying to figure out what goes on in their brains."** Harp responded.

"Fair enough, Soundwave has enough trouble with them anyway." She joked.

 **"** **I wonder how she is right now."**

Aurora shrugged. "I'm not the mind reader of the group. Ask her yourself."

There was silence for a few moments before Harp responded. **"She's pissed."**

One of her optic ridges rose higher. "Should I ask why?"

 **"** **Just contact her yourself, I ain't no damn carrier pigeon."**

Aurora couldn't stop the laugh, Harp had always had an odd thing against messenger birds, something she often refused to explain the reason behind such a loathing.

But seeing as Aurora had been present at the time, she'd been well aware of the one who'd irked her so. "Fair enough, it'll take a while before the action starts up." She pondered, before beginning a leisurly stroll towards the cave lake.

 _"_ _Penny for your thoughts?"_ She enquired.

 _"_ _He's dancing, he's fragging dancing! Right in front of everyone! …I broke the stress toy, and the little ones are kicking up again."_ Soundwave vented over the mental link.

Aurora hummed in understanding. _"Breathe Sounada, breathe, too much stress will cause the little ones to arrive early, and getting you out of there right now would not be an easy feat, just turn off your audios and ignore him, he can't exactly tell if you're paying attention to him anyway."_ She advised.

Soundwave mentally chuckled. _"Fair point, when should I report the downing?"_

 _"_ _Later, I'm going to keep watch of the goings on from the lake. I'll give you the signal when it's time"_

 _"_ _Until all are one Ro. And don't drink the lake water again."_

 _"_ _And all are reunited Sounada. All of us. And god damn stop reminding me! I can hold my alcohol!"_ Aurora could practically feel the warm glow Soundwave was likely immiting at the mention of her promise, before she'd realised what she's warned her about. But the promise was certainly one, she never intended to break.

A few minutes later she arrived at the lake, the pool of pristine water reacting to her presence as the cave walls lit up in a blue glow.

With a single flick of her wrist, three separate spheres formed in front of her, each one shimmered for a moment before the colours which had formed alligned perfectly, giving an almost birds eye view of what was going on, Emily was in one, nestled within a small stretch of forest, her form hidden by her own robe as she gazed towards the clearing. Razor and Cliffjumper stood in another, hidding on a ledge which hung over the train tracks, it was his first intervention so they had Razor stay with Clifffjumper just in case.

The final sphere, showed the Autobot convy, each one was highlighted with a slight glow, one for each of them to alert her to Arcee's hidden presence, who was currently being stored in her sire's trailer with the DINGUS.

One more energy singal was visible, a pale purple, this caused a small smile to bloom on her faceplates, Zyirun was doing her job well.

* * *

Autobot convoy

"Err Prime? That cat really is attached to you." William Fowler comented as he observed the Autobot's house cat, Roxy the Devon Rex, lounged over the Prime's dashboard sunning herself as the light filtered through the tinted windows.

"Yes Agent Fowler, she is a very… clingy cat, ever since I brought her back to base." The Prime answered back.

William nodded before a thought occurred to him. "I thought female cats weren't friendly." He muttered.

One of Roxy's eyes flickered open, watching the man carefully as he said that.

Optimus hummed in agreement, activating his holoform so that he could pet the short haired feline as she continued to sun herself. "Then Roxy just has a friendly character." He responded, a warm smile forming on his features as Roxy began to purr.

William nodded, before glancing over to the holoform, this wasn't the first time he'd seen the mechs holoform, but the clear gap between their two species' technology always left him in awe, but there was another subject he needed to discuss. "You likely heard about the Dragon running wild in Russia."

Optimus' holoform nodded once. "I believe she's finally revealed herself, why now though… I am uncertain." He had a good guess, for them to know she was alive, and something in the back of his helm begged him to believe that it had something to do with his spark fragment.

Willaim hummed at the revelation. "Well she's certainly a crafty one, how she got out of that lake without anyone seeing her must have been some feat, and the sheer speed, if that was her, someone will already be looking to capture her." He knew that it was a worst case scenario, but with how some people worked, it wasn't a low chance occurance.

A low growl came from within the semi. "She is fully able to defend herself, my daughter would not allow such a thing. And if ever dare try and I find them… may Primus show them no mercy."

William tensed at the tone in the Cybertronian's voice, even Roxy had picked up on it, jumping off the dashboard and nuzzling instead into the holoforms abdomen in an attempt to help relieve the mechs anger.

It seemed to work as after a long sigh he spoke again. "I am sorry Agent Fowler, it is just… she is my only chance at having a creation of my own, and I can't help but believe I neglected her needs by sending her away, and not being there as she grew up. She's less than a human year away from turning eighteen in her years, I have missed her entire life, what kind of sire does that?" His tone had dropped into one of sorrow as he stared hopelessly out the side window with his holoform.

Empathy and surprise where clearly visible on the human for a moment before her leaned over and clasped his hand onto the holoforms shoulder. "Prime, if it was me, I would've done the same, you did what you saw was best for her, you put her need for safety over your own wishes to be a, whatever you guys call a father, and my guess, this means that she's waiting, apparently she said something, but they haven't been able to slow it down enough to find out." He explained.

Optimus perked up at that part. "You have been unable to slow down the video?" Raf was able to do it in less then half a minute.

William nodded. "Yeah, I was on the phone before you lot arrived, turns out that whenever they tried to slow the videos down enough, the computer we would be using, would self combust or shut down, what, you were able to hear the message?" He enquired.

 _"_ _Until all are one, and all are reunited again."_ The voice filtered through the Semi's speakers, the tone soft and almost remousful, a heavy contrast to the knowing smile on her face as she'd sped past in the video.

"Ain't that first part, your catch phrase?" William enquired.

The holoform nodded. "Yes, she still remembers it, and she has added her own part to it, all are reunited again, she is no longer refering to only myself and herself, but also, Cliffjumper." He explained.

The agent stared at him for a moment before asking. "You think that it was Aurora, who saved Cliffjumper?" He enquired. Optimus nodded his head. "The figure which gave Arcee her new spark, wore the exact same colours of my daughters scale pattern, it would stand to reason then that she was also the one to resurect our fallen comrade." He stated.

William cast his attention to the rearview mirror on his side of the Cybertronia's alt form, and spotted something which made his eyes widen in surprise.

* * *

With Emily

The robed dragonic hybrid huffed, sitting cross legged on a throne of branches which had formed when she'd gone to sit down, clawed foot tapping the ground as the grass beneath her bare feet shifted towards her, carefully flicking any dirt particles there from the scally skin.

For lack of a better word, she was bored, bored straight out of her mind.

Spin-spin clicked beside her, the gargantuan spider peering around at the world around it.

Emily had decided her pet needed to stretch her eight legs, which the spider was happy to do as it walked around, the arachnids legs, as thick as tree trunks causing loud thumping sounds with each step.

"When are they going to get here Spin-spin?" She asked, not expected a reply over the rattling clack of her pets teeth which followed her question. "Neither of us know then… I hate being bored. When's the action going to start?" She muttered.

There was a very good reason for her hatred of being stuck in one place, doing very little, for a long time.

It allowed her mind to try and drag her back.

At that thought, her optics began to play tricks on her, the edges of her vision rippling, she had to do something!

She tried to get up, but her body had already become unresponsive.

Spin-spin seemed to be acutely aware of her creators distress.

As a moment later, the giant arachnid had impaled her leg with her massive fangs, right through the robe, and began pumping the antivenom which Emily had given her the ability to naturally produce.

After a few moments, the ripples faded and feeling returned to her form, allowing her to let off a soft sigh as she reached over and rubbed her pets spider's head. "That's my good little girl, looking after mummy when she can't look after you."

Spin-spin simply clacked her fangs again as she nuzzled up against Emily's clawed hand.

The sound of jet engines reached her as the vehicons arrived, a smirk forming on her features as she rose into a standing position before quickly running towards the edge of the forest, which faced the clearing which the Autobots where transforming on, Emily's eyes quickly snapped to the Prime, a soft smile taking over from the smirk as she noticed the Devon Rex. "Zyirun you lucky glitch… He doesn't look to good." She added the last part after noticing the dryheaving man.

A few moments later the battle began, For the most part the Autobots seemed to be handling themselves well.

At least until a Vehicon grabbed a fallen log which looked to of been laying there for years.

And slammed the end straight into Optimus' helm.

Emily was frozen for a moment as the Prime was sent tumbling out of sight over the clifface.

She felt the trees around her pulsate, seeming to expand against the constraints of the bark as the water within expanded and began heating up.

A clap of thunder roared overhead and she felt dread pool within her.

A moment later, it receeded again, and she gave a sigh of relief, it had all occurred in less than a second, and the clap of thunder was easily lost within the sounds of blaster fire.

So, with time moving at the correct speed again for her, she lashed out.

The battle came to an abrupt halt as the ground began to shake violently, causing those previously fighting to stumble as giant roots ripped their way out of the ground, ends splitting wide to reveal thousands of serated teeth, the roots actually hissing as they all lunged at the vehicon who still held the tree.

All he was able to do was release a signle horrified scream before the roots flower like red mouths clamped down around him, cleaving through the metal armour and simply tearing the mech to pieces.

They all pulled back once, and all that fell to the floor, was the half eaten spark casing of the vehicon already being digested within the powerful acid which the roots produced.

That was all the other living vehicons needed to see, all three of them running in the opposite direction and leaping into the air so they could transform and fly away as fast as their frames made possible, the roots hissing and snapping after them as they flew away, before they turned to the three remaining Autobots, the largest flicked to the left minutely towards the forest, something only Arcee caught before the roots quickly vanished, seemingly like they'd been dragged back underground by a powerful force.

Arcee was the first to look towards the forest, the realisation that, what had just happened, was an intervention, and that was when she spotted the hooded figure, only it wasn't blue robe, this one was a forest green with crimson red detailing from what she could guess.

It seemed to salute her, before leaping backwards, and melting into the bark of the tree behind it.

The figure had worn the same colours, as the rose Wheeljack had found.

"Endor… She did that." She whispered to herself, thanking Primus that beither Bulkhead or Bumblebee heard her.

 **"** **What…what was that?!"** Bumblebee whirred, backing up a few steps as his optics remained locked on the gouges left in the ground from where the roots had created with their quick, almost instantaneous exit.

"Don't know Bee, but I ain't gonna stick around to find out." Bulkhead responded.

Arcee nodded, glancing down at her servo, the clawed tipps glinting in the sunlight, she could feel how her winglets where twitching, straining almost to break free, ever since she'd accepted… the transformation, it had sped up, her armour was more spiked, and she swore to Primus himself she'd felt something shift in her aft recently, likely the tail she'd be seeing soon.

Why was all this happening? Why had this war suddenly become so much more complex?

"Hey Fowler! Where's Optimus?" Bulkhead called over to the human agent.

Fowler frowned when he looked over to them. "He had a train to catch, now where did that cat go? Roxy! Roxy! Come here kitty!" He called to the Devon Rex, who'd all but vanished at somepoint during the battle.

* * *

With Cliffjumper and Razor

Cliffjumper watched as the train moved towards them, helicopter flying overhead with likely the leader of the group weilding a large bazooka.

They where currently hidding in the forms of two Mountain goats, the robes they'd been wearing having shifted into neckscarfs.

That was when Razor sniffed the air, deep brown fur bristling as he seemed to catch the scent of something. "The humans are on that train!" He exclaimed, to Cliffjumper's surprise and horror, the Spinoformer, disguised as a mountain goat, leapt from the ledge they'd been standing on, just as the bazooka was fired, it didn't hit Razor though, it wasn't even aimed in their direction, instead it crashed into the tracks up ahead, blowing the metal and wood to pieces.

Razor turned to look at the tracks for a moment, spotting Optimus driving towards them, and a sight which he hadn't been expecting to see, but welcomed fully, turning his attention to Cliffjumper, he bellowed up at the equally dark brown mammal. "Fix the tracks!I'll get the humans!" He yelled.

From the corner of his vision he spotted Zyirun, she nodded at him as she raced after Prime in the red and blue vehicles blind spot, her colourful fur glinting in the late sun, a stark contrast to the bland scheme which she'd taken to recently.

He didn't wait for Cliffjumper's response, as with a well timed jump, landed safely in the same cart as the two human teens and two unconcious fully grown adults.

His appearance clearly startled the two awake humans, but he wasted no time in blaring at them, lowering his head and charging frorwards, and at the last moment, flicked them onto his back, he was quick to spin and grab the first soldier with his teeth, toss him onto his back, followed by the second one, a moment later, Optimus roared past the door oposite the one he'd come from, the moment the truck had passed, he jumped back out the way he had come, causing the startled teens to release terrified cries as he lept from the speeding train cart, Zyirun shot by on the oposite side, paws gripping the ground as she raced by, too fast for the two human teens to see before the rest of the train shot passed, causing his fur to ruffle and .

He landed well enough not to stumble, but the momentum forced him into a run, shaking the four off as he pelted after the prime, leaving the two human teens in stunned silence as he ran at his top speed after the Prime, which he would admit, was a lot faster then a goat really should run at.

Just before he passed the Prime, he allowed the earth to incase him, replacing the organic matter with tungsten ore.

Using the front bumper as a hoof hold he vaulted over the front of the train, and slammed his four hooved feet deep into the ground.

A second later, the train slammmed right into him, but he was able to hold his ground as his horns caused the front of the train to buckle, the back wheels of the engine actually leaving the tracks before thankfully slamming back into their rightful place on the tracks, he spotted the Prime's pede next to him as his hooves smashed through the wooden supports under the tracks one after another, causing splinters to fly up into the air and bounce harmlessly off his form. He and the prime both released their own groans as they continued to fight against the trains momentum.

Cliffjumper frowned as he realised there was something wrong, the train wasn't stopping fast enough, sure he'd fixed the tracks, but there was a sharp turn coming up, and with its current speed, it would run right off the rails. It was then that he realised what was wrong, the wheels where still being powered, the EMP blast hadn't been strong enough to take out the engine, it was a runaway, and no matter how much he wished he could have more faith in both Prime and the mech who royally handed him his aft every training session, there was no way the'd be able to slow it down in time on their own,

Without another moments hesitation, he leapt onto the train, running as fast as he could along the top of the carriages, and, with a prayer to Primus that his theory was right.

In less then a heart beat, once having reached the same velocity as the speeding vehicle under him, he fused with the train, just like how Razor had taught him too.

Almost instantly he felt everything, every piece of cargo, and most importantly, the control systems.

Without hesitation, he put the engines into emergency shut down, and applied the brakes full force.

A powerful burning sensation then hit him, causing him to flinch slightly, causing the brakes to weaken, a moment later he snapped back to focus, slamming the breaks back down again and watching as the vehicle he'd just taken over, sparks flying from the breakpads, and thankfully came to a more immediate stop.

Just in time for Razor's back hooves to reach the beginning of the sharp turn in the tracks.

Razor let of a quiet sigh of relief, stepping to the right away from the Prime, focusing more on the severe dent he'd left in the engine, he wasn't the only one to of damaged the train though, a quick glance at the Engines cab told him that the Prime's grip was something not to mess with, but neither was the Prime's daughter and his sister when it came to crushing force.

Optimus stepped back from the train, turning his attention to the being who'd helped him, thoughrouly stunned at the sight of the living tungsten ore which ressembled that of a mountain goat. "Thank you for your aid, but, who are you?" He asked, upon noticing the fabric around its neck though, a theory as to who this was began to form. "Are you, one of the ones looking after Cliffjumper?"

It was then that Ratchet Commed him, drawing his attention away from the creature.

Razor took this as his cue, and with a gesture of his horn told Cliffjumper, who was hiding on the other side of the train, out of view of the Prime, to follow him, Cliffjumper nodded, quickly following after the disguised Spinoformer as they both phased into the rock, Cliffjumper having bitten Razor's left horn so that he could be pulled through.

 _"_ _Optimus, are you and the humans… entact?"_ Ratchet enquired.

Optimus turned his gaze to the two humans who where running up to him, both relatively unharmed over than a few minor scrapes and bruises. "We are all entact Ratchet." He turned his attention back to where the creature had been, only to find it was gone, vanished.

He then turned his attention to Helicopter flying above, it hovered there for a few more moments before turning and flying away, clealry haven decided not to continue their quest for the DINGUS. "But we now have a new danger, Decepticons, in human form, but, I believe, we may also be receiving aid, from the unknown group who have Cliffjumper."

 _"_ _Would explain the giant roots which just ate a Vehicon."_ Bulkhead remarked over the com-link.

That was certainly a new development.

 _"_ _I think it was Endor, I saw a figure hidding in the forest, wearing a robe just like the blue one, only, red and green, like the rose Wheeljack found."_ Arcee added.

Optimus nodded, transforming into his vehicle mode and opening his door for the two humans to hop in.

He was genuinly surprised when Roxy appeared on his over side, mewling as she scratched at his other door, with a light chuckle he slowly opened it so that she could jump inside.

Once the door was closed again, Roxy hopped up onto the dashboard, and with a content purr, laid back down for sleep.

* * *

Carvern 1 Cave lake

Emily watched as Aurora let out a calm sigh, finally stepping back from the spot drone had stood a few minutes ago, shaking in his new and short lived body.

She'd sent the piece of Vehicon to her sister, who'd quickly resurected the mech who'd slammed the tree into her sire.

Now, all that was left was a few fillings on the floor as she watched the second of the mechs pedes get pulled down her sisters gullet, the neck not even expanding as the blades within made quick work of the only remaining formerly large piece of the vehicon.

Once she was able to close her four jaws again, the blue Predacon released a content sigh, reaching up with one paw to wipe away the energon which coated her maw. "Thanks Em, I needed that."

Emily let off a nervous chuckle, it was always disturbing when Aurora ate something in a fit of rage, it normally involved her jaws unhinging and a whole lot of very large teeth moving very quickly to drag the object down to be shredded.

It turned into a full on howl however when a calamourous burp left the blue Predacon, causing a plume of dark blue smoke to leave her maw. "Excuse you!" She taunted.

"Oh shut up, you're just as bad after a feast!" Aurora shot back, making her way out of the chamber and into the tunnel up towards the main cavern.

Emily snorted. "Only when I'm drunk." She remarked back.

"Which doesn't take much, yah lightweight." Aurora shot back.

Emily pouted. "Not everyone has had the experience of drinking a barrel of Viking grade mead, the size of a warship, and come out just as sober as when they started Ro! Jeez!" Emily shot back, catching up with her sister in her own predacon form.

"You missed some major parties Em, those warriors knew how to throw their weight around! God! Why did they have to become so peaceful?!" She exclaimed, staring up at the marble ceiling like it would give her the answers.

Emily felt her jaw come unhinged. "You just love violence don't you?"

"Only when it's all in good nature!" Aurora shot back.

"Wait a minute… Ro, are you drunk?" At her remark, a sound akin to a hiccup left her sister.

"Ancients! Harp! You're meant to stop her from drinking the lake water!"

 **"** **There's not exaclty much I can do from her back Emily, when she's got her head three metres under, there's no stoping her.."** The message responded.

Aurora snorted. "Told yah! I can drink whenever I want!"

Emily groaned. "It must have been the energon she just had, it's reacting with the lake water." She grumbled. "You are going to be hungover something fierce when you wake up Ro!" Emily growled.

"Don't care, when I wanna drink, I'll drink!"

* * *

 **Yup, that lake water does more then unlock elements, it can also be used to get Titans drunk off their asses, and now, Ro's a bit more then tipsy. Well, hoped you all enjoyed, and the vague nature of the first part is because I did not wish to either insult anyone, or use an event which you lot might or might not know about, so it was simply to prevent anyone getting insulted or anything like that. Well, until next time!**

 **Moon**


	12. Hangover?

**Heyo again everyone! Okay, another chapter has been completed, so this one arrives! The last part is, I will admit, not my best, but I hope the rest is still good enough, I personally really enjoyed writing this chapter, now then, everyone not seen in the series belongs to me, unless their an actually person in real life that is, anyway, on with the chapter and I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 12

Aurora groaned as she came too, front half of her body laying at the bottom of her pool bed, the other half resting on the pools edge and the side of the pool.

She blinked as a moray eel swam past her vision, the colourful creature completely at ease with her being there.

It was then that a sharp pain ripped through her skull, causing her horns to flare and clack against one another sharply, causing the pain to increase even further than before.

With a startled cry, she flailed for a moment before using her front limbs to push of the bottom of the pool, the force sending her entire frame out of the water and crashing onto the pool side, lying on her side as she panted, with a groan she pulled her head into the reach of her front paws, carefully rubbing her throbbing horns as the waves of pain continued to assault her.

She didn't even notice the door to her room being pushed open by a sleek muzzle, or the near silent footsteps which drew closer.

"Hangover?" Soundwave joked, peering at her best friend and she writhed on the floor, this was a serious hangover, apparently she'd drunk about a fith of the lake water, and then ingested energon, it was no wonder she'd been so drunk the night before.

Thankfully Aurora was neither a fun or violent drunk, she just cursed up a storm which led to Cliffjumper dragging Rya away to one of the training rooms before Aurora got too carried away with her extensive vocabulary. She was also almost as unstable on her feet as an elephant of ice skates and there was a lot of walls which were going to need repairing later because of that fact.

Aurora groaned, peering out from between her claws to glare at the smirking stealth class Predacon. "Oh shut the fuck up." She growled, only to wince and clamp her grip back down on her horns, rubbing gently to try and get rid of the latest burning pain.

Soundwave rolled her optics, understanding why Emily had called her other, she was quietest of all of them, Razor, no offense to the mech, was a massive bulk of metal and powerful cables, his every step literally shook the Earth even when he was trying to be quiet, Sonic's claws where known to clack a lot, the long thin claws making scrapping sounds with every step, Emily was just as loud when it came to walking, which was only a bit less than Razor's own ground shakers, and Rya was a little too heavy footed too.

Cliffjumper had a different reason, currently, Aurora hadn't allowed him passage into her room, that was something one earned through literally years of trust building.

Thankfully in Soundwave's case, she'd been able to build up that trust, and her close bond with her best friend over long distance, her on Cybertron, Aurora on Earth as she grew up, hence why the moment she'd been able to meet the Titan in person, she'd been given full access, thankfully as well, her siblings had also grown fond of Sound, especially after she'd lost her intended.

They'd all lost something, Aurora her sire, Rya lost Ig, Sonic lost Uri, Razor lost a whole village, and Emily lost her family in one swoop.

They all suffered the emotional turmoil of grief and loss, and it made them so much closer as a group, as a family.

And it was that very thing which prevented Aurora from swiping at her when Soundwave placed a large branch filled with octagon shaped leaves on the ground in front of her. "Straight from Emily's madhouse, quickest treatment for dealing with your hangovers yet, other than decapitation that is." She joked, shrugging her shoulder plates and causing the spikes there to rattle silently against one another.

Aurora didn't even sniff it, but her grimace was clear to seen, if it wasn't for the ridged blue bone plates which covered the top of her head, four in total, Soundwave could've seen her muzzle wrinkle up in disgust.

"Hell fucking no, I'd rather wait out the hangover." She whispered, but the guttural growl which accommodated it made Soundwave very much aware of how ticked Aurora was for having to eat the plant, she'd had it herself, and she fully understood why Aurora would hate it.

Soundwave let out an aggravated sigh. "Aurora. If you don't eat that, then it will take a good month for that hangover to pass, and right now, you cannot be out of it for that long. Eat it on your own, or I will force you to myself. If you want, I can make your mind register it as something nicer, say… roasted salmon?"

It was an instant reaction, growl shifting into a warbling chirp.

Soundwave couldn't stop the smirk, she was well aware of her younger companions love for the roasted fish, something Aurora and Uri had always shared.

She felt her spark clench at the thought of the final member of their group, lost to them, in a place that not even Liara could locate.

Aurora stretched her neck out, mouth slowly opening, waiting for the smell wafting of the broken end of the branch to change into the delicious aroma of roasted salmon, the moment it had, half the branch was already down her gullet, the whirring of blades filling the air as the branch was torn to shreds.

It would be another hour or two before her hangover passed now, but it was far better than a solid month of head splitting headaches.

Aurora sighed as she rolled back over to face the pool, head slipping under the lapping waves, the slits along her neck opening to allow the warm water to slowly filter through.

Soundwave watched this for a moment, before settling down herself next to the larger Predacon, being weary of her swollen sides, they'd be coming within the next few weeks, ready to be laid that into the nest that she and the siblings had been working hard to make.

If only her intended was here, then he could be there, with her…

She shook her helm, turning her attention back to Aurora as she pulled her own helm back out fo the water with a content sigh. "Had to wash any residual taste out." She muttered.

Soundwave nodded, shifting slightly as one of her two unborns kicked her quite viciously. Aurora seemed to spot this as she turned her attention to her mid section, where the plates where no heavily distended. "They'll be arriving soon." It was a statement more than a question.

Soundwave nodded her helm. "Yes, I can't help but wonder what my intended would think… they're not his after all…" She muttered, feeling guilt twist uncomfortably around her spark, which only got that bit worse when the other one kicked out as well.

Aurora reached out and gently placed one of her front paws on her friends distended mid section… Sound, you know just as well as I do, how you two agreed that you would adopt if the species difference prevented you, this is pretty much the same thing." She tried to reassure, gently rubbing her friends stomach to try and help the little ones inside calm down.

Soundwave nodded. "I know, I know, but we didn't make the decision together, I was desperate, and Liara had the capability to do it… being what she is, I wanted to have a family with him, but Starscream took that from me…" She whimpered, feeling her horns lower and claws twitch.

Aurora began letting off a soft crooning sound, understanding that her closest friend was suffering through visions of the horrid lunar cycle. "It's okay Sound, I'll bring him back for you, remember, this is a promise I intend to keep, no matter what, I'd fly to Cybertron and find him now if it wasn't for my wings and the planets atmosphere." She admitted. "Neither of you deserved to lose the other like that, but I know that even in his dying moments, he still loved you, and when, not if, when I bring him back to you, he will love your little twins just as much." She tried to reassure, rubbing the side of her helm against Soundwave's instinctively knowing that it was a gesture of comfort in both Titan, and Predacon etiquette.

A shaky rumble left Soundwave as she rubbed her helm back, accepting the gesture of comfort willingly and leaning further into Aurora's side. "That glossa of yours really can work wonders for the mind Aurora." She muttered, lifting her helm away from Aurora's and instead draping it over the blue Predacons Shoulders, just before where her wings lay, focusing her attention on the expansive glass window which looked out into the massive gardens which surrounded the palace, the flowers slowly shifting in the lift breeze that the cavern had, the air flowing in through thin crevices which traversed all 25 kilometres straight up to provide enough air for the plant and animal life which thrived here.

Aurora chuckled, feeling the forked ends of her glossa flick inside her mouth for a moment as she turned her own neck to regard the garden. "You know me, I learnt from the very best, when you've deballed in politics as much as I have, you're bound to develop a silver tongue, and mine looks like a snakes to boot!" She joked, allowing said glossa to flick out and lick the air, the forked ends flicking the end of her muzzle as they where pulled back in.

Soundwave let off a chuckle. "You really are just a giant serpent with legs Ro."

"Don't forget the wing! …Huh, I think Em added something to that branch, I can barely feel my hangover now!" She exclaimed excitedly.

Soundwave felt an optic ridge go up. "You think she's finally perfected it?" She enquired.

Aurora shrugged. "She'll keep improving it anyway, hopefully she works on the taste next." She stated, glossa sticking out in disgust. "I'm getting sick of goats gall stones and dried hag fish, I will never understand why she mixed that into that poor trees fertiliser, it looks half dead!" She grumbles.

Soundwave chuckled. "There is a better way of dealing with a hangover you know." She stated.

Aurora perked at that. "The humans discover a new method?"

"No. They still have the same problem we do." Soundwave responded.

"Well then I'm stumped, unless someone on either side of the war accidentally made a concoction of pure hangover remover." Aurora grumbled.

Soundwave let off a bark of laughter. "It's simple Ro! Don't drink!" She cheered.

Aurora's helm snapped round to gaze at the laughing grey and purple Predacon, a look of utter horror on her face. "Don't…Drink? …HOW COULD YOU SUGGEST SUCH A THING?! Ooooowwwwww, stupid headache! Maybe not a perfected cure yet…"

Soundwave just continued to laugh like a mad femme.

"Shut up! And there is no way I'm giving up drinking!" She shouted, only to halt back as a duller wave of pain washed over. "Okay… maybe I should pull back a bit." She muttered.

Soundwave gave Aurora a warm smile. "That's all I ask, yah stubborn serpent."

"You do realise what my element form is right?" Aurora enquired, giving Soundwave a coy look.

Soundwave chuckled. "How could I? …Speaking of element form… I just wanted to check something with you, if I ever… truly lost it, you know, Starscream really pushing my buttons, would I shift? And my element isn't a physical state, what happens when my form try's to shift everything into well… minds? …A semi physical state? Would everything become sentient or something? Cause I could do without millions of sporks trying to ask me which they are." She grumbled.

Aurora frowned, that was quite the doozey of a question, and she tried not to snort/laugh at the example her best friend had given her. "Not all that sure, Liara said that Psychetralises like you were powerful, but thankfully, the ones who take the most to shift, Ignitralises like Rya being the easiest, and Aqulienguritas like me being around the middle ground, you shouldn't worry too much Sound, I trust your ability of remaining level helmed in these situations. My concern, is Cliffjumper…" She assured her friend, having calmed down again, only for her demeanour to darken as she addressed her own concerns.

Soundwave sensed it immediately. "You think he might slip?" She enquired, lowering her helm so that she could look up at Aurora, who'd tucked her helm into her neck slightly.

"I asked Liara, she said she hasn't seen anything definitive, but that we need to be careful, he's being kept from his intended, as is Arcee, either one could slip and we'd have either and Icrectilak, or Marenqulgiltar running wild… Ancients let us prey we're able to contain them before too much damage is done… erasing Rya going wild from the books and memories was bad enough, with social media and the like, you'd have to do a global mind/data wipe."

Soundwave nodded thoughtfully, only to wince as another kick was delivered to her midsection. "I swear, they're going to have some serious kicks to them when they're born, their nearly denting the metal!" She exclaimed, rolling her helm to the side in aggravation.

Aurora tilted her helm slightly, distracted from the previous discussion as the new one came forwards, gazing down at her friends midsection as well, before lowering the side of her helm to the swelled section, horns easily picking up the sounds of two strong sparkbeats, and then another kick, right where her mouth ended. Pulling back away slightly she then pushed the front of her muzzle into her friends side slightly. "Behave for your carrier little one, or I'll let Emily baby sit you." She threatened.

Soundwave gave her a slightly worried look. "You are joking right?"

Aurora didn't verbally answer, just giving a slight smirk and shake of her head, whilst raising a clawed digit to her lips in a shushing motion.

Soundwave rolled her optics. "It's going to be interesting dealing with you being their God mother." She rumbled, optics going soft as Aurora didn't even seem to pay attention, too busy nuzzling and crooning at her midsection. "You are going to spoil them rotten aren't you?" She enquired, optics narrowing in false anger.

Aurora's helm popped back up, wide smile on her face, her optics shinning in the light reflecting of the pool from the fire ball which lit the cavern, Soundwave actually froze for a moment at how filled with joy she was. "Yup!" She chirped, popping the 'p' before pressing her muzzle back into her midsection and continuing to croon and chirp at the two unborns within.

They sat there in partial silence for a while, Aurora focusing on the two hatchlings whilst Soundwave continued to watch, feeding her own adoration for the two through the creator/creation bond that had already formed.

That silence came to an abrupt halt when Emily practically fell through the doors in her rush, pedes sliding across the floor with little two no grip in her panicked stumble.

This instantly got the two Predacons up, Aurora moving quickly to brace herself up against Emily so that she could stand.

Only for her to continue sliding around, her pedes leaving black smears across the floor, but her grip on her sisters neck kept her upright enough for her to speak. "I found out how Iyubi got out!" She exclaimed, tugging at Aurora's neck and resulting in her sliding between her sisters fore and hind limbs. "But first I need to clean this stuff off my pedes, sis?" She enquired, staring up at Aurora with pleading optics.

With a sigh she nodded, commanding a large orb of water to de-attach itself from her pool and sending it to envelop her sisters pedes, quickly removing the tar like substance. Once complete Emily was back on her pedes, tugging at her sister in an attempt to get her to follow.

With a sigh she turned to Soundwave. "You should probably get back to the Nemesis, Knockout and Breakdown are nearing the planet aren't they?" She enquired.

Soundwave looked upwards for a moment, optics glowing brighter as she harnessed her own abilities. "They're twenty breems from arrival, I should get moving. See you two soon." She stated, bidding goodbye as she transformed into her Bipedal form, her distended plating disappearing into the illusion, if they didn't know that she was a femme, they'd genuinely think she was a mech.

Aurora tilted her helm towards Soundwave. "Get a move on then, you can use me just for efficiency, before Em here drags me out." She stated, having to brace her front left leg against the wall next to the large doorway to prevent Emily from dragging her any further.

Soundwave nodded, visor blocking any verbal response as she strode over, raising a digit up and pressing it into the side of her helm, just where a humans temple was.

Her form seemed to almost be pulled in from that point, disappearing from view in a matter of seconds.

Emily chuckled nervously. "Err, I didn't interrupt anything did I?" She asked, a slight blush forming on her faceplates as she kept trying to pull.

Aurora stuttered for a moment. "Emily! Soundwave has a mech!" She exclaimed, taking a step back in mortification at what her sister was implying.

Emily just howled with laughter as she made a beeline down the corridor.

Her hasty exit was quickly followed by a roar of indignation as heavy pede steps followed behind.

Emily was quick to transform into her own beast form, pushing herself to keep her tail out of Aurora's jaws as they both took sharp turns and bolted up flights of steps, they passed Cliffjumper at one point, well, more like almost ran the mech over, had Razor not grabbed his tail and dragged him back into the training room he'd just left, saving the mech from being trampled by the two Predacons as they shot through the halls like rockets.

Finally though, she ran out of corridor, only a large balcony in front of her, without even hesitating she leapt into the air, spread her wings out and flapped hard, quickly getting out of reach of her sister who was forced to come to a screeching halt at the balcony, optics narrowed as Emily continued to soar away.

Aurora growled, wings tensing at her sides, but Harp forced them to stay shut, preventing her from making the mistake of trying to fly after the red and green predacon.

Instead, the growl slowly shifted into a tired sigh as she turned to walk back inside, only to halt when she realised what room they were in.

Ignial's room.

She felt her furnace flicker slightly as her legs began to shake, optics gazing around at the objects which lay scattered across the floor, at one point, long ago, they'd floated, up near the ceiling, pulling and pushing at one another.

But now, they lay across the floor where they fell, covered in a good meter off dust, which had been disturbed by them charging through without realising.

Tracks where even left in the dust from where some of the spheres had been pushed around, rolling with their heavy footsteps.

Her optics drifted over to the empty berth, the covers still laid out, yet like every other part of the room, covered in the dust accumulated by almost seventy years.

And above the berth, the picture of all of them, painted by a now famous artist, Michelangelo, of all of them, her, Rya, Razor, Sonic, Ignial and Uri, all of them in human form and posing like the family they were.

It had been painted in 1501, 76 years after she'd lost her flight… Ignial had won in their game of capture the painting, and so it had hung there ever since.

She felt her furnace flicker again as she remembered how happy they all where back then… well, as happy as they could in times of reprieve, she'd still been relatively bed ridden due her kinds slow natural healing, a curse of being so large, healing even the open wounds took a good decade.

If only one of them had been a Natufalinson at the time like Emily was, but she had been centuries away from being even born.

She could still vividly hear Ignial's voice, and Uri's too.

 _"_ _Awww…come on Ro! Lighten up a bit and get your humongous ass over here!"_

 _"_ _Don't be an idiot Ignial! She's in the Royal court! Stop yelling through the window!"_

 _"_ _Then you get out of that filthy river and come play yourself! And stop being polite! It's creepy!"_

 _"…_ _Really? And what's wrong with me not giving you a real verbal lashing from time to time when you mess something up with your monkey shitting brain!?"_

 _"_ _Oh! Right! Never mind normal Uri's back everyone! Forgot about the whole… I'll shut up now."_

She still remembered how Uri hadn't spoken to him for a good month after that, no matter how many watermelons he threw at her partially submerged helm from any one of the many bridges along the River Thames.

As well as how she'd had to remind everyone in the court about what they'd been talking about before Ignial stuck his helm and neck through a formerly intact glass window, that had been quite costly to replace.

Sure, life as a whole wasn't the best, but having her family complete, that was enough for her.

But… it wasn't like that anymore.

With a sigh she looked around the rest of the room, hardly believing that she'd been so consumed by her efforts to get back at Emily for her comment, to not notice where they where, what they'd disturbed.

Even after seven decades of no one daring set foot within these walls, everything still smelt like Ignial, the room emanated it even after all these years, the walls all though slowly paling, still bore the colours he'd loved to use to spruce up everything thin.

 _"_ _Nothing wrong with some colour! Now! How about some blue for those horns?"_

Reaching up with her front left pede, she rubbed one of her horns, feeling the royal blue paint he'd skilfully applied, it had been permanent, mixed by Ignial himself, even now, after a good few hundred years since their application, they hadn't even chipped.

Slowly, she eased herself down, not caring about the dust flying in between gaps, or the cloud of it which rose around her and almost caused her to sneeze when it flew up her nostrils and tickled the edges of her concealed gills.

It barely registered though, as she regarded the room again, all the disturbed spheres, all the paint brushes and half finished canvases of stunning views and portraits he'd been commissioned for, Michelangelo had really taught him well, it was all there, everything, everything which had made Ignial, Ignial, and they'd disturbed it with their carelessness.

Harp had been silent this whole time, her wings grip not shifting with practise like they originally did with her emotions, she'd long since become unreadable when she was bracing her crippled wings.

In the silence, Aurora quickly became lost in the memories of times long since past.

 _Ignial's resurrection, the third to come back into existence, with a mighty below which partially deafened her for a good few minutes._

 _Him always loving to play with Rya, nudging the youngest with his larger snout, how he would teach her how to jump, how to use her head as the weapon it now was, how to fold her tail spikes down so they wouldn't get caught like they used to._

 _How she'd always walk in on the two, snuggling in their bipedal forms, Rya fast asleep against him, and Ignial just watching with a smile which only came from the love of a father._

 _His optics, the only one of the group to have amber yellow optics, always so… so him, full of life and excitement as they scanned the world for inspiration, or when they held such absolute adoration as he tried to wrap his arms around all of them, he never gave up trying to get Razor in on the hug, but, alas, with the rest of them already in the hug, there wasn't much arm space left. Even in the first few decades of their new lives._

 _The way he'd always forget about Uri's inability to join in, his love of throwing watermelons at anyone whenever he felt like it._

 _How one of them would suddenly levitate off the ground, and he'd just be smiling like a maniac._

 _How he'd always, always, be there for them when they hit a low point, he was there for Sonic when Uri disappeared, there for Razor when he lost his village, there for Soundwave when her intended was murdered in front of her, whenever she herself would slip into depression over the loss of contact with her sire, or when she'd been out of contact with any of them due to something coming up._

 _His smiling face as he kneelt down to lift Rya up into his arms so he could give her a better view of the crowd._

 _How both he and Rya had such relieved smiles on their faces, truly believing it was all over, they all felt like that, relieved that it was all over, that they could all return home and rest their tired bodies for more than a few hours at a time._

 _Rya had looked so happy as she'd wrapped her arms around his neck, Ignial's own joy as they rubbed noses as he began wrapping his arms around her, getting ready to hoist her up._

 _Then, he'd frozen, his posture shifting, putting his back to the crowd, blocking Rya from the view of the masses._

 _How the shot of a gun rang out a moment later._

 _And how Ignial's blood splattered over Rya's horrified face, the bullet not quite stopping in time._

 _Rya's horrified scream, as Ignial's blood then hit her own face from where she stood only feet away, she hadn't reacted in time to save either of them._

A clawed servo landed on her shoulder, jerking her out of her memories as she stumbled to her pedes, the claw falling off and coming to rest in the shadows pluming from the form it was attached to.

"Aunty! Don't scare me like that!" Aurora exclaimed, stumbling back and disturbing more of the dust, some of it flying into both of their mouths, causing both to cough.

Liara fell into a coughing fit, plumes of shadow cascading out like smoke. After a moment, Aurora's tail whipped round, the blunt side of the blade smacking the back of her aunts neck.

It seemed to do the trick as after one last hoarse cough, she was able to speak. "You were falling into bad memories, you know how dangerous that can be." She warned, regarding her niece with a slightly irritated yet mostly worried look.

Aurora shuffled. "I couldn't stop myself, there were too many, all at once, I… miss them." She muttered, turning her gaze out towards the balcony. "Ig always wanted to see me fly again, he could've, if I'd been quicker… I'm a speed class Titan for crying out loud! I'm meant to be able to react faster then any over class… yet, when I needed it most, it was almost like it had abandoned me, leaving me frozen, as I just watched… I'll always hold myself responsible for that, and Emily's family, and her mental instability back then, and now…"

A large clang rang out through the room, as Aurora's helm was jerked to the side, optics wide as she stared at one of the spheres, made of brass.

Liara frowned at her, lowering her paw back to the ground. "Never allow yourself that… never… I refuse to lose you like I did the rest of our kind! Do not follow in your mothers footsteps Aurora!"

If possible, her optics widened further, Liara never spoke of her mother, her aunts sister… twin.

She could feel the tiny droplets falling to the ground, her aunt was crying.

"I lost them… to their own weaknesses… I refuse to allow you to do the same! You are our kinds last hope! You are the only one who can rekindle our race! You cannot lose yourself! I won't let you Sion!"She bellowed.

A moment later, Liara crashed into her, wrapping her front limbs around her and coiling her neck round so that they were locked together.

Aurora stood their frozen, before slowly rearing up herself and doing the same, feeling lubricant of her own forming behind her optics. "I… I'm sorry aunty… I just… I feel so lost sometimes… I… I don't know what to do… I don't want to loose anyone else… Not again… I've lost too many who were close to me, even Hedric, I've lost so many… to the whims of man, and in Uri's case… to forces not even you know…"

Liara's grip tightened on her. "We'll find Uri some day, her disappearance wasn't your fault." She reassured, before tensing. "I have to go, I can't stay any longer, good luck with the sun harvester."

With that said, Liara let go, melting away back into her own shadows until all that was left was the disturbed dust where she'd been.

Aurora nodded at thin air, turning to look around the room one more time before walking towards the door, once she stepped out, she carefully grabbed the open doors handles, and pulled each closed with her mouth. "Rest well Ignial, it isn't the same without you and Uri."

 **Museum of human history (Completely made up) Washington A short time later**

Jack and Miko grunted as they tried to shift the large gold orb from its pedestal, attempting to get it onto the machine lift.

They didn't even notice the figure walking up towards them, completely ignoring the giant robots fighting outside.

"Need help up there?"

The unexpected voice caused all three to jolt, spinning to find the figure of a woman, by looks of it around nineteen in age, peering up at them from under a blue sunhat, why she was wearing that indoors and at night though was beyond them.

Jack sent a weary glare at her, not trusting her whilst Miko and Raf looked outside, the bots and cons where fighting in clear view for the woman to see.

"Oh? Those lot, don't worry, my position means I know a lot about them that I can assume you don't even know, Jackson Darby, Miko Nakadi, Rafeal Isquival, my name, is Rosaline Tinuma, but, you can call me Ro. Everyone at work does." She greeted, bending at the waist in a mild bow, showing of the intricate sea serpent design which was embroided into the back of her deep blue over coat.

Straightening she clapped her hands together. "I'd be happy to help you move that, it's one of my jobs you see, one I was just appointed. Now, don't worry about lowering yourself back down, I'll come up to you."

Before any of the three could respond, Ro vaulted forwards, leaping up and using her momentum to flip into a standing position at the top of the lift, landing in such a way that the medium heels of her shoes made only the slightest 'click' when they made contact with the metal.

The three stared at her for a moment before Miko peered over the edge, they're were at least ten metres in the air, how had that been possible?

"Now then, let's see if we can get this thing moving huh?" Ro enquired, unparsed by their untrusting looks, she proceeded to step up onto the statue and opposite to Jack, placing her hands onto the surface of the orb.

'I haven't seen this thing in millennia, personally at least, I'm going to have to hide everything else deeper.' She thought internally.

However, something caught her eye, turning she spotted Optimus skidding towards them, missile in servo and pushing him closer and closer towards the glass front.

She felt herself tense, along with the other three, but they tensed for a completely different reason to her, they'd been distracted as well, just as they'd been about to object to her helping.

Thankfully, all the tip of the missile did, was crack the glass, leaving an almost spider web crack across on of the large panes.

The sigh of relief wasn't even out of her when Ro spotted the red mech, the Medic Knockout, charging forwards with his energon prod.

With her head facing away from the other three, they didn't see her pupils shift to the blue hue, narrowing into slits with the surrounding iris taking over from the white and beginning to glow.

Just before he could strike, the red mech froze in place, a startled look in his optics as his hydraulics suddenly became unresponsive, giving the Prime time to recover and give the medic a hefty punch to the faceplates, sending the rigid mech flying.

With the deed done, her eyes returned to normal just as she turned back to the three. "Ok, on three, lift."

Jack and Miko nodded, each holding part of the orb.

"One, two, three!"

With one strong huff, the orb rolled onto the lift, with a loud 'thunk'.

Ro was practically beaming as she hopped down onto the lift after the two teens, regarding the orb for a moment. She still remembered when Kronus used this as a weapon against her, during the first time she'd tried to reclaim her necklace.

Who knew it was just as effective at mining her own live blood?

But she guessed she also had to thank it, had it not been for this orb, she wouldn't have her siblings.

She turned back to the three teens. "Ok you lot, get this golden ball outta here, I'll deal with all the red tape. I've already sorted out the right documentation." She assured, before simply stepping off the edge of the lift, landing easily again and making her way towards the back door.

The sound of the lifts engine soon followed behind as she pulled down on the lever, only to jolt when Miko stepped up into her face. "Who are you?!" She half yelled, half whispered, excitement and intrigue.

"That's what I wanna know too." A male voice called just as a flash light came on, blinding the two for a moment.

Not even flinching, Ro stepped forwards, reaching into the inside pocket of her over coat a flipping open a small wallet.

"Rosaline Tinuma, Royal advisor of the British family and member of MI5, I was called here to confiscate the Orb of Orpheas, it needs to be taken to be examined due to… complications in documentation, apparently, some whack job believed it would be a good idea to put an object which emits Beta level radiation into a public museum. One crack and that thing could give radiation poisoning to ever visitor of this place. All the transfer documents have already been completed, this big boy is to be shipped to a lab in Scottish highlands where it can be safely disassembled and have the radiation source removed, it will be returned to the museum once that is done. And she, is a student from the Kensington school of Law, she's working with me and the other two due to their excellence in their studies, these three are the possible future of the British parliament. Now, we'll be on our way, Jackson, steer that thing to the exit bay, there is a helicopter waiting for it to be transported, and remember, one crack and we're goners."

The guard stood there openly staring at her for a good few moments as Jack took the cue and drove forwards.

Ro regarded him for a few minutes before patting him on the shoulder. "Continue you're good work sir, now then, have a good night shift." With that, she walked after the lift, thin heels clacking against the hard ground.

Once they were out of earshot, Miko asked. "Did you mean all of that?" She asked.

Ro nodded. "Yes... Well most of it, the helicopter should be landing in about two minutes, from there it'll be shipped to the nearest airport and I'm going with it back to the UK, such an object is far too dangerous to stay out in the open like this." She answered.

Raf spoke up then. "But the bots need it!"

Ro regarded the twelve year old with a soft look. "That is true, but imagine what would happen if the Decepticons got a hold of it, don't worry, I'll personally select the personale to guard it, no one with ill intent will ever get their hands on it."

Jack shook his head. "This will be interesting to explain to Optimus." He muttered

Ro nodded. "Yes, but for now, lets get this orb out of here. I trust you'll stay out of the cons sight once I've taken the orb with me?"

Miko nodded.

"I know you crossed your fingers Miko." Ro stated. "I have two younger sisters who try to play that on me every chance they have."

Miko deflated at that.

Ro placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking it lightly. "I just don't want to be responsible for leaving you to get in trouble with those cons."

They arrived at the back exit then, the door sliding open in less then a minute, just in time for a Black Hawk to land, rotors whining quietly for a few moments before slowing to a moderate speed.

Four fully armed men hopped out, saluting to Ro each before making their way over to the now lowered lift, hefting the heavy orb up between them, carefully carrying it over to the helicopter.

Once it was safely secured to the floor of the helicopter, Ro turned to the three. "I'll be seeing you all soon okay?"

The three exchanged looks, but before they could answer, she'd hopped into one of the seats, replaced her sun hat with a helmet, and waved to them as the military vehicle returned to the skies, and within a few minutes, had disappeared around a group of sky scrapers.

With nothing else to do, the three ran towards the front, seeing as the sounds of battle had long since quieted down.

"Optimus!" Raf yelled, catching his and the rest of the Autobots attention.

"Yes Rafeal?"

"Where's the Harvester?" Bulkhead asked.

The three exchanged glances, Jack being the one to answer. "You wouldn't believe us, even if we tried to explain."

Miko interrupted then. "Here's a hint, Rosaline Tinuma."

They Autobots all exchanged looks, before Optimus spoke. "The British Politician?"

"And member of MI5, she took the Harvester in a helicopter! And, she knows about you guys, she wasn't even bothered when she saw you all!" Raf exclaimed.

Arcee shook her helm. "We need to get a hold of the Harvester."

 _"_ _No go team Prime, I just got off the line with General Brice, the top brass have handed the artefact over to British custody, their trails already been wiped clean, I doubt even Sopundwave would be able to find the Harvester now."_ Fowler interrupted suddenly.

Optimus frowned. "What were the grounds of the extraction?"

 _"_ _Classified, ie, I'm not of a high enough rank to know, all I know is that I've been told to inform you not to follow, the Harvester is to be dismantled and smelted down into tooth fillings or something like that, now get back to base, I don't want to explain to early rises why there are Giant alien robots in the middle of a city museum parking lot."_

 **The next day**

"Sound? What yah doing here?" Rya asked as she walked up to the robbed figure, the hot sun bearing down on the two as they stood upon the Jaspar High school.

Soundwave cast a look over to the robbed thirteen year old. "Just giving Miko a mental boost." She stated, placing a hand on her heavily distended stomach, thankfully hidden from view by the robe, making it look like she wasn't even carrying twins.

Rya frowned for a moment before realising what Soundwave was implying. "Really Sound? Isn't that cheating?"

"She already knew it, I just opened up the mental block she'd put in place in an attempt to be bored. Just a boost, no cheating involved." Soundwave declared, smiling in the darkness of her hood as Rya huffed. "What are you doing here?"

Rya placed her hands behind her hood covered head. "Bored, Emily's experimenting, Sonic's still locked himself in his room except when he needs to eat, Razor's training Cliff and Aurora's getting herself back together after seeing her sire."

Soundwave frowned at the last point. "I'll have to go talk to her later, oh, and juicy detail, Knockout and Breakdown are in a secret relationship."

Rya very nearly fell over herself, once she'd regained her balance she hissed. "I thought you didn't probe people's processors anymore!?"

"Correction, I don't probe you and the others minds anymore, everyone else is fair game, Rya I'm a Psychetralises, it's kind of what we do, well, what I do." She shrugged, before turning to watch as the young teen exchange student run out the front door, towards her guardian, who'd been easy to control so that he didn't look up and see her, or Rya on the roof, being the 'Mindmaster' had it's perks for staying out of sight.

Rya rolled her eyes, before grabbing the older woman's robes and combusting the two into flames, quickly arriving back at the palace.

Hopefully Razor would remember to burry all the relics deeper, or better yet, dig them all up and seal them in one of the vaults in Qylatia.

* * *

 **Hope that all made enough sense? Well nothing really to say here... umm... yeah, a new chapter will hopefully be posted much sooner then this one was! Well until next time! Say bye everyone!**

 **Everyone (minus a few I can't be bothered to list): SEE YAH!**


	13. Err what just happened?

**Ok, this one is a bit early but oh well, a lot happens in this chapter, so prepare yourself, over than that, not really much to say, other than I hope you all enjoy, and have fun!**

* * *

Chapter 13

Razor huffed as he strode through the expansive corridor which lead to his bedroom, he was going to have to raise the ceilings again soon, he swore he'd grown another foot since the last expansion and he did not feel like having to lower her doorwings against his back sturt so that Aurora didn't chew his audio off again, like it was his fault Rya had startled him!

It had been funny though when Sonic fell through the hole from the floor above though, and landed right on Aurora's head, resulting in both getting sent to the floor.

 _"_ _Pretty nice sky light though. Shame you did it on the third floor, the seventh would've been a better location."_

Ignial's voice rang out in his helm for a moment before he shook it away, no, he'd moved on, Ignial was gone, never gonna come back, no mater how much they wished it.

He still laughed at his older sisters response though.

Hit him round the back of his helm with her scythe like tail, thankfully not the bladed side, with a look of irritation on her features.

He was just passing by the open doors of one of the training rooms on the second floor, when a yell he instant recognised as Cliffjumper's, alerted him to duck.

A moment later, what looked like a bladed discus, shot through the place his helm had been a moment prior, before getting lodged in the opposite wall, leaving a substantial cut.

After a few moments of staring at the floor with optics wider than he'd felt them go in decades, Rya popped into view, one servo wrapped around his helm decorated shoulder, her frame using that to hold her up as she leant under his haunched position. "Ray? You okay?" She asked, her right optic focused on him, whilst her left remained unfocused, his own optics locked onto the scar, which had formed in an star shape over that of her optic, just to the top left of her optic, the fine lines faded with how she used to extensively wipe at it with the sharp edges of her claws.

After a few more moments, which for him seemed to stretch on, and on, he regained his movement, instead of answering verbally, his arms came down from where they'd been covering his helm, and instead, he wrapped them around his little sister, pulling her too him as he tried to get some grounding, as flashes of memories came back, one after another, going further and further back in time.

Ignial's death stood out first, his limp form falling to the side, the crowds screams being drowned out by Rya's gut wrenching animalistic cries as she realised she was losing what she held closest, and her sanity slipping with it, Aurora turning to him, a few specs of blood peppering the right side of her face, eyes wide before she spun and raced to Ignial's side, as Rya crumbled over him, screaming her human lungs out as blood pooled from the side of her skull, as she slowly realised that Ignial's life was quickly fading.

 _"_ _I'll, be, fine."_

He hadn't been, he'd died after those words.

Then Aurora almost dragging herself through the living room door, frame looking like it wanted to give up, her telling them, that Uri was gone, before she gave out and collapsed to the floor from exhaustion and how she was now holding the weight off all the water of the planet, and not only half. Sonic's agonised scream as he found out about his water locked twin sister's side of their bond, vanished from the contact of his own.

The battle of Agincourt, as Aurora's form plummeted towards the ground in front of them, limbs flailing and sheer terror displayed on her features as her wings fluttering and jarring uselessly around her, her scream of agony all but freezing the world in place.

Zeria, and her village, high within the mountains that no longer existed, all off them running for their lives as he stood frozen, the massive torrent of snow and ice crashing towards them, Zeria's pleas for him to do something as Aurora failed to hold back the sheer amount of something not her element, getting pulled under herself in the process, Rya trying her best to melt what she could, but only causing it to move faster towards them, all of his siblings worked to save the village. Zeria's clawed servos shaking his numb frame to try and get him to snap out of what was holding him in place.

But he, the one who could do something significant to save them, stood frozen in fear, trapped in memories like he was now.

The cascading wall of snow crashing over him, and her, he'd lost her that day, he should've held onto her, he could've saved her.

Zeria smiling up at him, completely unafraid of his towering form as she grapsed his left arm in her organic one, leading his beast form towards the village he called his second home, smiling as he rubbed his snout against her side, taking in her scent, one which belonged to a flower which he couldn't remember the name off, but even now he cherished it.

She was so sweet, loving, caring to her family, had a temper and warriors spirit, that when the two fought together, the army's they faced, were more afraid of her, then the towering Earth Governor.

The first time he met her, bright chocolate brown eyes, shining black hair, and a dress the same colour as his first friend from a time he dared not truly ever recall.

The night they sank Atlantis, it's people safe and stored within water and air tight rooms as he, Ignial and Aurora worked to lower the city out of harms way.

The moment Orpheas used the Energon harvester on Sonic, his panicked cries and Uri's bellows from her place trapped in the harbor, as her twins life blood was drained from him, Rya running forward, the barely out of hatchling hood femme ignoring Ignial's calls for her to get back and to safety, just as she head butted the orb out of the contraption used to hold it, saving Sonic at possibly the last moment.

The Predacons which they fought, Aurora leading the charge against a alpha three times her size, blue fire flaring from her mouth, tailing behind her in liquid ribbons as she leapt, and unleashed the torrent of fire which all but melted the beasts helm to a glowing white pool of metal on the ground, blue fire still lapping the air until finally dying out.

His optics snapping open for the first time, and a bellow leaving him like none other, but apparently Aurora had already been partially deafened by that point. Ignial honking and bellowing as he tried to run from Uri, the young Mosa somehow being able to chase the much larger herbivore Dino bot with her flippers leaving gouges in the ground.

Liara's shadow watching from a distance as she congratulated her niece, his own confusion as the blue Titan, only seven years old in her own kinds time scale, and yet so open to accepting him and the others into her tiny family, Harp perched on the Blue titans left shoulder, watching with a warm look in her pale blue optics.

He still remembered how Rya, right after coming to life again, barely out of the nest at that point, bit his tail, yet, he didn't even get annoyed. Not even tried to bite her.

Before his memories could go before his resurrection though, back to that harrowing time, his frame was suddenly slammed into a solid object, jarring him from his trance and causing his optics to snap back open, the lubricant he hadn't even realised had been falling partially obscuring his vision of Aurora as she stared at him, optics darting everywhere as if to check for physical injury as she pinned him to the wall.

But by her distraught look, he knew just as well as she did, that the wounds weren't physical.

Without hesitating, the two largest living members of their small family embraced, tails coiling as they simply found comfort in one another's embrace.

Rya watched on as her two older siblings embraced, she herself nudging Cliffjumper, silently telling him to give the two some privacy.

Razor and Aurora had always shared an odd bond, one few could pick up on unless it was moments like these, and she and Cliffjumper were just going to get in the way if they stayed.

Cliffjumper seemed to get the point, calling out to the metal which made up the bladed discus, the weapon quickly floating back into his grip as the two quickly left the corridor as the two older siblings pulled apart and began walking in silence in the other direction, likely back to Razor's room so that the mech could get some rest.

The two primarily red members of the group walked quietly down the corridor, their own destination unknown, but Rya knew she would have to explain what had just happened to Razor to him.

Cliffjumper actually decided that was the moment. "What, just happened?" He asked, turning his helm to regard the only slightly shorter yet far younger femme.

Rya's left optic swiveled to see him, but as always, she couldn't make him out. "Razor… oh ancients… he just went through a memory loop. You know… flashbacks, and by how he reacted… they were nasty." She breathed out, using hand movements to emphasis her point as her faceplates fell in that of despair.

Cliffjumper nodded, turning his helm downwards to stare at the marble tiles they were passing over. "So, my poor aim caused it?" He mumbled out, guilt reigning supreme through his frame, if Arcee knew what had happened, he had to wonder what she would think. Almost taking the helm off of a youngling mech…

Rya nodded, before grabbing his arm and jerking him down a different corridor. "Yes, and I think it's time you get some more info, you've been here for… SOUND!" She suddenly shouted.

At her shout she let go of him and bolted down the corridor. Cliffjumper starred after her for a moment before spotting the grey and purple Predacon which was shuffling awkwardly down the corridor the one he was on branched onto. There seemed to be some type of liquid trailing behind it from its maw, its sides convulsing and it's four thin double jointed legs shaking.

Rya was already at her side, nudging the Predacon with her own beast form whilst honking repeatedly. "RO! SOUND'S TWINS ARE MAKING THEIR DEBUT!" She screamed. "Cliff! Help me with her!" She screeched back down the hall as she practically rammed her side up against the slightly larger theropod Predacon to keep her upright.

He was sprinting a moment later, coming to a stop just in time for Rya to push him under the panting Predacons front so that he could help drag her.

A lot of questions where flying through his processor, but Rya's panicked yet somehow collected expression helped to ground him.

Aurora came thundering down the corridor towards them in her beast form, slamming her clawed pedes into the ground hard enough for her to come to a stop in front of them and thick gouges to be made in the floor from the force of her breaking, her long neck moving so that her head rested in front of Cliffjumper. " I got her." Her voice was stern yet sounded labored as she continued to cycle air into her… lungs? There was a look in her optics in that moment, one he couldn't place due to all the swirling emotions within, but it was all he needed to see.

He quickly moved out of the way as the Titan femme shifted into her bipedal form a proceeded to pick the smaller Predacon up, like an odd piggyback ride.

The Predacon groaned once at the movement, but Aurora was already sprinting down the corridor away from the two.

Cliffjumper went to ask Rya who that grey and purple Predacon was, only to find her running right after her blue sister. "Hey! Wait up!" He yelled, shifting into his own beast form so that he could charge after them.

Two minutes of running up multiple flights stairs and through corridors he couldn't remember even being in before, he arrived at a large room, the doors slamming shut in front of him just as he came to a stop.

Shaking his helm he turned to find Razor and Sonic laying/sitting on the floor in their beast forms, Sonic staring out the window and Razor switching his gaze between him, Sonic and the door, the mech seemingly having made a quick recovery from his recent incident.

"Err, who was that?" He asked, pointing to the door with a clawed digit.

The two exchanged a glance once Sonic looked away from the window, before Razor answered. "Aurora's best friend."

Cliffjumer shuttered his optics. "Okay… What's her designation, Rya yelled 'Sound' but that's all I got."

They exchanged another glance, before Sonic sighed through his beak. "You know her as the Decepticons Third In Comand, Soundwave."

The world all but came to a screeching halt around him as his starred at the two mechs, taking a shaking step back he felt his four-way forked tail curl to his side, twitching once every few seconds as he backpedaled slightly. "W-w-w-what?" He muttered, not able to produce anymore sounds as he stared at the two mechs in utter shock.

Sonic nodded, but Razor was the one to speak. "'Soundwave' Is her alias, her real designation is Sounada, the first ever Cybertronian to be reborn as a Predacon, Liara brought her back after she was offlined in a battle in the Kaonian gladiatorial arena, Liara was able to use all the darkness within the sparks of those in the area to generate a solid body, recreate Sound, all whilst simultaneously offlining the mech who'd killed Sounada, she'd only been in the first stage of her Youngling hood at the time. Even before Aurora hatched, Liara's been pulling the strings of fate into her favor."

He'd ask about the 'pulling the strings of fate' later. He currently had something more pressing to ask about. "Her!? She?! Please don't tell me that mechs a femme and that your just trying to yank my pede?!" He exclaimed, that would be way too much of a processor frag!

It was at that moment that the door opened, Rya stepping out as both of Emily and Aurora's voices followed her, whilst a distressed grunt could be heard every few seconds.

Rya stared at the red and silver mech for a few moments before walking over to him, gripping his lower arms armour, and beginning to drag the mech away from where he'd been standing and down a corridor. "Ro's tasked me with explanations, so move it." She barked out.

Cliffjumper nodded his helm, following right after her, not wanting to lose his arm to the femme.

* * *

 **Soundwave's room**

Soundwave let off one final sigh as she collapsed onto her side, Aurora and Emily backing away from where they'd been bracing her sides to keep her upright.

For a few moments she just rested the side of her helm on the side of her nest, her vents labored before she shifted her helm slightly to look at Aurora, who bore a warm and bright smile, the question on the Predacons femme already known to the blue Titan. "You did it Sound, they're right here." She declared, neck twisting out of her view, she was left confused until Aurora used her snout to carefully push two oval shaped objects into her chassis, shifting her neck round, she found herself gazing at two eggs, her twins, one was a pale red in colour, and the other a pale purple, each one dotted with black and gold.

She felt lubricant well up under her optics as she tried to shift so she could rest her helm next to her newly laid hatchlings, seeing her intentions, the two adolescent Titan's pushed at her frame slowly with their plated muzzles, their combined strength easily shifting the smaller Predacon into a position where she could curl her neck around her own eggs, still a little wet from where they'd left her frame, her glossa flicked out and she began licking at the shells. Her little ones. Her precious little ones.

Aurora lent forward and rubbed her helm with the double agents. "No complications, quick dispersion, no damage to the eggs on exit, your mate would be so proud, you should be proud, very proud, just like we are." The blue Titan praised, gazing at the two eggs fondly.

Soundwave huffed in exhaustion again. "Starscreams all mine…" She rumbled.

Aurora nodded. "Yes, I'll make sure of it, he'll be all yours once this is all over. But for now, you're little ones will likely want your attention, in a month, they'll be coming out to meet you." She cooed, rubbing her helm and neck against the smaller predacon.

Soundwave weakly rubbed back, still exhausted from the labour which had begun within her own room on the Nemesis, thankfully, Ravage being the one she traveled through to arrive at the palace, she didn't have to fly to find a suitable link.

Aurora rose back up to her full height, turning her helm and neck to Emily. "Let's leave them, Sounds exhausted." She declared, turning and walking out of the room, Emily following quickly behind her, closing the door gently behind her with her tail.

Razor and Sonic rose at their exit. Aurora was the one to speak. "There were thankfully no complications, Sound's resting, return to your rooms, especially you Razor." She pressed, regarding the largest of the group.

Razor grumbled something under his vents before walking down one of the corridors, Sonic instead making his way through the open window and taking off, likely to tend to his clouds.

Aurora then turned to Emily, something within her deciding for her. "Em, Sounds hatchlings coming into the world will make it too dangerous for you to continue your practice, I advise you work on developing your necromancy whilst there isn't any hatchlings to worry about."

Emily gave her a surprised look before nodding. "Okay, but no promises on perfection." She mumbled.

Aurora felt her optics roll as she lifted her right front limb up and let it rest on her sisters shoulder. "Have faith sister, you're a Titan, it's in your very nature, you're very genetic make-up, necromancy is something all Titan's have, you'll get there eventually." She reassured.

Emily nodded. "Will do, now, you go get some rest yourself."

Aurora shook her helm. "Can't, there's another scheduled intervention, Rya and Cliffjumper are already heading there, I'm going to keep an optic on them and the proceedings… Then I'll rest." She added at her sisters irritated look.

Emily nodded before walking off.

Once she was out of sight, Aurora turned back to the door, and with some effort, quietly opened it, thankfully, no creek was heard.

Soundwave was in recharge, curled around her eggs, one wing draped over them and tail curled to create a rest for the two large eggs.

Aurora slowly closed the door again. "You'll be a great mother Sound. I'll do my best to be just as good a God mother." With that said, she began her own trek to the closest water source, beginning to ponder the benefits of creating a natural water spring close to Jasper which she could use and a place she could hide it so the humans wouldn't try and capitalise on it.

* * *

Jasper.

"You understand now?" Rya sighed, resting on a large gas tank tower, out of view of the humans as Cliffjumper flopped down in his beast form, wings spread across the ground with a defeated look on his features.

"Mostly… still got my helm spinning though. So, who's the sire?" He asked.

Rya tensed a bit. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Cliffjumper lifted his helm off the dusty ground. "Try me. I just found out that the Decepticon TIC is not only a double agent, but also a fragging Predaconian femme! Honestly! What else could you throw at me?!"

"Fine then…It's Blaster, technically, but the hatchlings were from a different couple, they died eons ago, but Liara held onto their un-borns, and gave them to Sound so she could have little ones of her own."

Cliffjumper's lower jaw hug loose. "What?! But, Starscream offlined him half way through the war?! And how was that even possible?!" He exclaimed.

Rya huffed getting a bit irritated now. "It's not my tale to tell okay?! It's Sounds, and she doesn't like talking about her intended was offlined in front of her! She's in a worst boat then Arcee you know! At least she knows her intendeds online!" She growled at him, plates flaring as twin plumes of smoke plumed from her olfactory sensors, the spikes on the end of her tail beginning to heat up and turn from their normal black to a more grey/red colour. "Sound can only hope that we'll be able to find a piece of him..."

Cliffjumper wisely shut up at that.

Rya sighed, feeling her frame relax back to normal and the heat in her tail spikes moving back into her furnace. "Just forget it, we got a job to do." She grumbled, before her form was engulfed with flame.

Instead of the fire diminishing to reveal nothing but embers, they dispersed to reveal a Pagani Hyura, the crimson red paint decaled with black and gold flame design which flowed around the sides and up to the small spoiler, the hub caps where made up of sixteen thick metal spokes, the metal being decorated by a pitch black paintjob, with orange flecks which against the black paint, looked almost like they were glowing.

Clifjumper sat back onto his haunches in surprise. "I did not know you could do that." He stated, tilting his helm to the side in confusion.

In response the driver side door popped open.

Out stepped what looked like a seventeen year old human female, her hair a rich blonde which fell over her left eye and traveled down to just below the waist, it looked like a lions mane which had been only partially tamed, with a thick red band near the end of the mass holding it all together. The attire itself was surprising, a red leather jacket with black metal spikes, pale yellow undershirt, and black leggings with a pair of torn denim shorts over the leggings, it was all finished off with a pain of black combat boots which had patches of red fabric woven in.

He felt his jaw come lose on one hinge. "Rya?! I thought you were thirteen!" He stammered, not fully understanding how what he was seeing was.

The thirteen year old rolled her eyes, only one was visible though. "I can change my appearance dummy, I can look however old or young I want, Ro's having to do it a lot nowadays with the work she's doing."

"Work? You mean where she keeps vanishing off to?" Cliffjumper asked, his jaw finally back in place.

Rya nodded. "Yep, she accepted an old friend of hers proposition, she's now the head adviser of the British Royal family… again. So, she's having to alter her appearance so no one can figure out who she is." She stated with a shrug. "Now, you're turn, transform into something, just make sure it isn't your old altmode, we do not need suspicions to be raised any higher at the moment." She stated firmly.

Cliffjumper nodded, going over his now working link to the internet, looking for something suitable whilst also looking into Aurora's new 'job'.

'Rosaline Tinuma? Huh, good alias, wow, she really isn't recognisable…' He thought, having come across a picture of her, there were actually quite a lot of her, apparently her job received a lot of media attention…

Once his musings were done, he focused on possible forms to take, finding one he began the shifting process, he'd already been taught to do it by Rya, manipulating ones own form to shape it into something, she'd only taught him weapons though, she hadn't mentioned full frame transformations into vehicles, but, he didn't really mind anymore, he was used to this group keeping secrets, it seemed like secrecy was part of their core coding, and something they couldn't fight.

Rya let off an low whistle once all four tires were on the tarmac, to him, it felt blissful to have rubber and tarmac beneath him again, he'd truly missed being able to just cruise. His choice of alt mode? A Mustang Shellby.

"Like?" He enquired revving his engine a few times to emphasise his point.

Rya snorted. "It's not bad, just, change the colours would yah? Blue with white would be less conspicuous… and less likely to catch any of the 'Bots attention. Don't worry, it ain't permanent." She reassured with a wave of her servo.

He felt more than saw his outer layer shift in colour, this was going to take a while to get used to, like everything to do with this group apparently.

Rya nodded after a few moments of examination, her human form slipping back into her vehicle form, a flash of her headlights and she was rolling out of the small area they'd found, the sun having long since set, leaving them in the light of streetlights and their own high-beams.

Cliffjumper let Rya roll in front of him, yes this was in essence, his home town, but if she wasn't leading, and he wasn't following, he could just feel him ending up at the Outpost, so, so close was his intended, milling around within the hidden base.

He also had no idea where the race was, Rya did, somehow, Sonic and Razor had mentioned Soundwave having psychic abilities or something like that, maybe that meant she knew what was planned to happen and relayed the info to them? Possible, he'd ask later.

The roar of an engine to his left jolted him out of his musings, and Rya's voice came through his radio. "Shield your furnace Cliff! Knockout's about to get here!" She snapped at him.

He quickly did as instructed, it had been one of the first things Aurora had taught him in their lessons on how to control his own biology, how to sheild the heat source which acted like a mini sun from prying optics.

They slowly pulled up at the back of the line up, a young man walked up to Rya's form.

Rya's human form frowned as she regarded the man, he was the first to speak. "Never seen you around babe." He purred.

Her senses easily picked up the alcohol on his breath, causing her features to wrinkle up in unbidden disgust. "I'm just here for the night, along with my uncle, he's in the Shelby next to me." She responded, gesturing with a flick of her head to where Cliffjumper idled next to her.

The mans eyebrow raised. "You actually convinced him to join? Girl, you got mah respect."

Rya shrugged. "We're both racers at heart, he actually got me into it, I used to ride shotgun, but now, I got this baby." She stated, pating the dashboard of the other part of her form.

The man nodded, starring at her form appreciatively. "Sweet rims, flame custom paint job?" He asked.

Rya hid her shiver. "Hand painted by yours truly, my other late uncle was a painter, he taught me everything I know." She stated.

"Hey… How about, after the race, come have a ride with me?"

Oh she wanted to punch him.

But a fist colliding with the side of the mans face beat her to it.

The man was knocked to the floor, and it looked like a few teeth had been knocked out in the process, turning her head her right eye caught Cliffjumper, apparently having created his own human form, standing tall over the man, a look of sheer murder on his features.

"Stay off my _niece_ you fragging piece of scrap." He growled, reaching down and picking the man up by the front of his shirt, the Predacon in human form growled as the man whimpered, nodding multiple times as a thin trail of blood dribbled from the side of his mouth.

"Uncle Chris!" Rya called, the alias name being the first to come to her mind.

Cliffjumper's growling cut off, and it seemed to be that he came back to his sense, as he dropped the man none to gently onto his ass. "Don't let me catch you flirting with my niece again." He warned, a growl coming from his chest to prove his point. Turning to Rya fully she could see the form he'd taken.

He looked like a genuine Texas modern day cowboy with that hat on, features chiseled and defined just as much as the rest of his well built body, his hair was the same bright red as his armour normally was, and was cut so that there was slight spiked bangs in front of hie eyes, but not enough to obscure them, he was wearing a red and silver tartan shirt with dark grey baggy trousers which fell over the black steel-capped boots on his feet, his hands where wrapped in finger-less gloves and it was all finished off by a grey cowboy hat, detailed with red stitching.

She waited for the man to run off with his tail between his legs before she said anything. "Nice attire. Now back in your car, the race is about to start, we need to take all the other drivers out, that's are job, prevent Knockout from causing any injuries, spin them out, nothing more." She stated firmly, Cliffjumper nodded, making his way back over to the driver seat, out of body experience didn't even compare to feeling himself slide back into his own body, it was just, starnge.

One he was back in position and strapped in, he felt everything which had happened today catch up with him.

He'd nearly decapitated Razor, causing the massive mech to go into a memory loop, witnessed the first stage of a Predacon in labor, found out that that Predacon was the ever elusive _Soundwave_ who apparently was about as loyal to the Decepticon cause as Optimus was, was a fragging femme, and her intended had been Blaster!

He still remembered the music loving mech, how he was so fun just to talk to. And his hatred towards Soundwave which he often displayed when fighting the me… femme.

Things began to click in place though… if Blaster and Soundwave were intendeds, and one was a double agent, their relationship would of had to of been in secret, and what better way than to mask in under hatred.

He still remembered the Battle of Polyhex where he'd been executed.

If memory served, Soundwave had all but beaten the scrap out of Starscream, at the time he and everyone else believed it was because Starscream had taken his rival from him, her, but now, he realised it was for something.

She'd just witnessed the mech she loved murdered.

Yet she'd held up her character, not a single sound, not that he'd heard her say anything earlier today outside of a few grunts.

But if Arcee's reaction to him being brought back to life with Dark Energon, and again with whatever strange thing Aurora did to him… he could only imagine what she'd felt.

…Wait, counting the dark energon, he'd been brought back twice! Razor said clealry it could only be done once.

Before he could continue his trail of thought, Rya's engine out right roared, the volume causing a few spectators to jolt back.

His attention focused back on the starting line, just as the flag went down.

His own engine roared, causing a similar reaction from the crowd as all the cars shot across the starting line.

And that's when he spotted Bumblebee.

"Bee?!" He exclaimed, leaning forwards whilst the other part of his frame roared on, Rya shot ahead of him a moment later, cutting in front of him and blocking his view of the scout, right, he had to focus.

He watched as Rya suddenly swerved to the right, fishtailing at a speed which would tear apart a normal human vehicle, and knocked two of the contestants off the road and into spins in showers of sparks and adrenaline fueled curses.

Looks like the intervention was already underway.

He turned his attention on a sleek Porsche which was trying to overtake him, and idea poping into his processor as his eyes began to glow, the lights on his dashboard doing the same as he had some fun with the Porche's axle.

The expensive car almost instantly swerved, tires jarring and sending the car skidding along the tarmac, before swerving off with his influence and coming to a stop just off the road.

Good luck explaining to their mechanic why the main axle had morphed into a pretzel knot, and brakes pressed so deep into the wheels they've become part of the wheel itself.

He felt an odd sense of satisfaction grow in the pit of whatever existed within him as he and Rya worked to clear the road, leaving only three cars left, Bumblebee, Knockout and one other, a black and gold hot rod with orange flame decals.

Rya shot ahead again, making it clear to him that the last car was all hers, however, just as she was about to take him out, he swerved out of her path. Going after Bumblebee, who had in turn branched off once Knockout started shooting.

He could almost feel the irritation radiate across her form, before her form slowed down and turned off.

He quickly followed, only to watch as her form was engulfed again, the flames fading away to reveal nothing more than fire red lizard, the tiny creature hissed at him, and he assumed she wanted him to do the same.

Once he rolled to a stop, he allowed his armour to reshape, taking on an organic makeup as he too shifted into a small lizard.

"Now what?" He asked.

"You didn't have to shift into a lizard you know." Ray shot at him in response.

"Ouch, harsh. Just trying to follow your lead." He answered back.

"Did you seriously not hear Aurora's call? We had to let that human get caught for some bloody reason." She huffed, a small trail of smoke flowing out of her now wide mouth.

Cliffjumper thought back for a few moments, realsing that he had heard her, it had been a low rumble, matching the frequency of his engine, but something within him had started tugging at him, he just didn't realise it until then.

"That tugging feeling?" He enquired.

Rya rolled her slit eyes. "Of course, she's the Alpha of her group, it would appear your frame's accepted that, but not your processor, oh boy." She grumbled before turning and scittering away.

"Hey! Wait up Rya!" He shouted.

"Then pick up the pace uncle!"

Her call actually made him stumble, as Rya herself skidded to a halt, after a moment they regarded one another.

Rya shuffled her front legs a bit, claws picking up small pieces of dirt on the ground. "You'll never replace Ignial, you'll never replace my daddy… but… if it's ok… with you…" She whimpered.

Cliffjumper slowly stepped forwards. "Human, or bipedal, you're choice."

"Human here, bipedal back home." Home, now that the word flowed into his helm, the palace came to his mind first, not the Outpost, this group, was his new home.

He shifted into his human form right with her, only this time, she looked just like a thirteen year old.

He didn't even hesitate to bring her into a tight and caring hug.

Out of everyone at the palace, Rya had somehow rooted herself into his spar… furnace… he was still getting used to his new anatomy.

Slowly her arms wrapped around what she could reach of his torso as she buried her face into his front, her form shaking slightly.

"Oh kiddo, come on." He mumbled as he felt drops of liquid on his front.

Rya shook her head. "I miss him. S-s-s-s-so b-b-b-bad… I w-w-w-w-ant my d-d-d-d-daddy back." She whimpered, voice shaking.

He unwrapped one arm from her, instead using it to run his fingers through her long blonde hair. "Hey, hey, I know I never met the mech, but I can see how much he meant to you." He let go and knelt down slightly so their eyes where level. "I doubt I'd ever be half the mech he was to you, but, I'd be honored if you kept calling me uncle." His smile grew wide as Rya sniffled, rubbing her eyes with the back of her fists, reaching up he brushed the bangs which hid her left eye from view, in her human form, it was glossy and white, not the shinning blue it was in her bipedal, in this form her blindness was much more out in the open. "I know losing him hurt, and I know what losing ones sire feels like, mine was shot out of existence by a Con firing squad when they raided the neutral ship my creators were on, neither made it out online." He turned his gaze to the dry earth for a moment before turning back to Rya and giving her a warm smile, which she returned. "But, even now, I know for certain, that even though they're gone, and I know it's been said in more human movies then honestly be counted, they still live on within us, and I know for a fact, that Ignial lives on in you, and he would want you to move on, and cherish every moment of you life."

Rya's gaze turned even sadder. "He gave his life to save mine…"

He shook his head, rising back up and with slight effort, picked her up from under her shoulders, causing a startled honk to leave her. He didn't comment though, instead he said. "Come on, how about you give me a tour of that big aft city you lot are hiding?"

Rya giggled. "Which one? There's nineteen of them."

He felt his jaw fall loose a bit. "Okay… the one you took me too first okay? And no running at break neck speeds okay?" He asked.

Rya nodded. "Qylata it is then. And thanks, uncle Cliff."

He pretty much crushed her into a hug at that.

"Uncle Cliff! I can't breathe!" She gasped out.

He let go after chuckled as he ruffled her hair up. "You'll live, now then, how about finding something we can use to get over to the city? I want a closer look than what I got last time, Aurora is a horrendous tour guide." He joked.

Rya full out laughed. "Oh you have no idea! Come on, I have some stories to tell now you've brought that up!"

He smiled as they began walking through the dry and arid land, away from where the Outpost stood, his home was with this strange lot now, one day though, the old and the new would hopefully come together.

Otherwise Arcee would have his aft.

Shaking his head, he focused on the Dracorex in disguise walking next to him, his niece, what a thought.

And another thought popped into his helm. "Race yah to the other side of Jaspar!" He shouted, bolting forwards and allowing his human form to alter back into the Shellby, he actually really liked this form.

"Hey! No fair! Wait up yah ass!" She shouted, shifting into her own Pagani form and racing after him, quickly eating up his lead.

Aurora watched all of this, a warm smile on her features. "Look's like Cliff's getting the hang of this… And little sis, I'm proud of you."

She turned to look at where the Outpost was, watching her sire and his team roll through the main entrance of the hidden base.

He had no idea she stood so close.

The essence of her furnace flared, clenching and causing her to grunt in discomfort from under her cloak.

She had to wait, no matter how much she wanted to see him, tell her she was there, tell him that she missed him.

An idea hit her then, as she allowed herself to shift into her element, the large mass of sentient water hovered there for a moment then shot towards the base.

She slipped though just as the door slid shut, and she quickly pressed herself into the wall, spreading her form so thin across the wall, the form she was all but invisible as she glided across the rough surface and into the main hanger, she didn't look for him, she knew he was there, but she had to focus, she couldn't screw this up.

She arrived at his room after only a few moments, easily sliding through the gap between floor and door.

Once she was within, she checked for cameras, surprised when there weren't any. Perfect.

Shifting back into her cloaked form, she leapt up onto his desk.

She quickly found a data pad, shifting into her bipedal state after listening to check if the coast was clear.

Activating it, she found the alert function, and typed a short message onto it, pressing her digit to the side port of it she uploaded an untraceable code which made it so that the alert was no longer displayed when searched for, it would only pop up, when it was to pop up, a little trick courtoursey of Soundwave.

Pede steps then reached her audios, in less then a second she'd shifted into the form of a tiny mouse, the cloak morphing into a medium sized ribbon around her neck. She leapt off the desk, landing safely and scampering over to the door just as it opened.

She bolted out, she heard her sire give out a slight noise of surprise as she bolted between his pedes.

She stopped for a moment to look at him one she reached the end of the corridor, feeling her whiskers twitch once, twice.

He kept staring at her.

She winked, turned and bolted, feeling her furnace clench even tighter than ever before, it was seriously punishing her right now, causing her to stumble at one point, but by some miracle, she stayed upright.

Optimus watched as the mouse disapeared around the corner, had it really just winked at him?

Shaking his helm, he turned to walk into his room, finding one of his data pads were turned on.

Picking it up he saw a message from Agent Fowler, likely what had turned the device on.

With a slight groan he sat down at his desk and looked over the message, it was in equivalent a mountain of paper work.

He truly hated paper work.

But it had to be done.

For the next two hours he worked, the clock hitting two in the morning some time later.

When the alert suddenly popped up, with a soft wordless song playing, the Prime almost leapt clear from his seat due to his reflexes, confused he opened the alert, not remembering ever setting one.

 _"_ _Get some rest Opi, you of all mechs need your rest, wish I could say this in person, to your faceplates, whilst crushing the life out of you in a hug, but for now, recharge well, love . Miss you daddy."_

He felt his spark all but freeze up as he continued to re-read the message.

"A-Aurora… you were here…" He vented out.

The memory of the mouse popped back up in his processor, it had been wearing a ribbon around it's pale grey fur, it had been made of multiple shades of blue…

With a sad smile he rose from his place at his desk, altering the alert so that it would act on repeat. She's been right in front of him, winked at him even, and then disapeared. And he didn't even know it was her, the little minx.

After placing the data pad back on his desk, he moved to lay on his berth, before staring up at the ceiling, he'd add a hidden camera, just in case.

He'd do it in the morning, he decided as he eased himself down onto his berth, after a few minutes, he drifted off into a content recharge.

She was still online, and still loved him, just like Alpha Trion said she would, so, for now, he was content.

* * *

 **And done! Like I said, lots happened, hope everyone understood? Sorry about the slow updates, exams are bearing down on me like no tomorrow. Well, until the next update!**

 **Moon**


	14. Clash of the giant spiders

**Ok, new chapter! Didn't feel like waiting really, so then, nothing much to say really, other than I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 14

Cliffjumper felt his helm spin as he and Rya walked down a road he'd seen named 'Orichia Avenue'. The city of Qulata seemed to hold so much, he's previous experience hadn't given him much, but now, as he and Rya strolled down one of the streets, he was fully able to take in the bustling metropolis around him.

The mechanical animals he'd seen prior trully intrigued him, there was such a varitety, and not all of them were one single species it would seem.

Those who walked past for the most part didn't pay attention, but it seemed that some where awake enough in their movement to bow to the two of them as they passes, it was quite odd for the first twenty odd times it happened until Rya excplained a key fact which had somehow been forgotten.

Her family, and himself now, where the guardians of the Qylatian race.

Primus they loved throwing curve balls didn't they?

Something jerked the back of his shirt, the two had decided that to fully give him the tour, to experience it just as the residents did, before he could question what was going on why he'd suddenly been kerked to a stop, something long, large and silver, and made up of multiple segments rushed past him, and the sound of a ringing bell reached him, how'd he miss that?  
A moment later the fast moving object was gone, and those around him started walking again, turning his head to the left he found himself looking at Rya's peeved off expresion.

"Would you watch where your going for once? I do not feel like peeling your sorry ass off the front of a HSGC." She growled before dragging him across a slab of marble which had slid out front the other side of the shallow trench so that they could walk across it.

"HSGC? Hey! I can walk myself!" He exclaimed as he was pulled backwards along the street.

"Clearly not seeing as you were almost hit by a HSGC, it stands for Highspeed goods carrier, they're the what we use here to transport food and other materials from the other caverns and out to them from here. You get hit by one of those at top speed and there won't even be a blood pool to clean up." She explained before stopping infront of one of the buildings. "Come on, this is one of my favourite resturants, I can get us a private booth so we can talk without interuption."

Before he could respond she'd dragged him through the door, hand still clamped around the back of his collar.

She finally came to a stop again and let go, allowing him to turn and take in the resturant.

Snakes, lots and lots of metal snakes.

The place itself was quite dark I terms of lighting, the walls a pitch black with almost glowing gold flecks peppring the shinning surface, most of the tables where connected into a winding 's' shape, with a wide channel in the middle in which serpents of all sizes weaved aroud one another, their optics glowing all sorts of different colours as their metalic scales shimmered in the light.

Glowing chaneliers made of a dark gold coloured crystal were the only main sources of light.

All around it had a surprisingly dark tone to it, which made the vibrant colours and designs worn by the customers which ate stand out even more.

Now that he wasn't walking, he was able to take them all in.

For one thing, they were not all once race, skin colour seemed to be just as variant as the robes they wore,they were all talking between themselves, the mood quite lights as they enjoyed the assortment of what the snakes delivered from a closed off area he assumed to be the kitchen.

It was then that a woman walked up, her expression warm as she bowed to the two, her hair was a deep chestnut brown, eyes a faded green with slight brown flecks and her face all but deviod of make-up. She was wearing a pale silver robe, the top half styled like a toga whilst a thick bright blue sash around the middle, shifted into a pair of loose fitting leggings, another piece of semi-transparent fabric hung from her hips, attached to the sash by two darker blue clasps, around her neck hung an equally blue necklace with a large ruby like gem sat, cut into a perfect circle and what looked like a doe engraved onto the front.

"Welcome to the Magne memorial resturant, lady Rya, we welcome you back, and to your friend, my name in Amilia , I'll be your server today, a privae booth my ladyship?" She asked, her voice quite refined, British maybe? He'd ask later.

Rya nodded and smilled. "This guy." She pointed to him. "Has been taking up a lot of my time, I thought it would be nice to show him some of the best food in the city. And yes, a private booth please."

Amilia nodded, gesturing for them to follow as she quickly walked towards one of the booths which sat upon the second floor, they were enclosed and seemed to even have curtains which could be drawn.

Once they sat down within he turned to Amilia and spoke. "Who's this resturant a memorial to? I'm sorry if I'm not meant to ask that, but this is my second time here in the city, and the last time my guide wasn't very helpful."

Amilia stared at him for a few moments before turning to Rya, who gave a simple nod, the woman, who he now realised looked no older than eighteen, seemed a bit surprised at her gesture. "Okay… The resturant was built in memory of Sir Ignial, after his murder at the hands of a human."

Cliffjumper felt the world around him screech to a halt for a moment. "A human?"

Amilia nodded. "Yes, the bullet was intended to hit lady Rya here, but if the documents are to be believed, Sir Ignial saw the assasin, acting on instinct, he sheilded her with his own body, but it only slowed the bullet partially." She explained.

His head slowly turned to Rya, who'd sat opposite to him, her head lowered. "I've heard enough, thankyou." He stated, Amilia seemed to get his meaning without even looking at Rya, turning and leaving once she'd drawn the curtains.

He rose from his seat and quickly sat next to her on the wide padded seat, this booth could ealsily hold four on each side, meaning he easliy sat next to her and pulled her into a sideways hug. "That's what happened?" He murmered.

Rya nodded as she shifted and burried her face into his front.

"Ah Primus." He mumbled, shifting to pull her into a full on hug.

"I-I lost my eye that day… the bullet was only slowed, like Ami said." She mumbled.

He tried to shush her, running his hand through her hair as he'd done before. "Hey, it's okay, you don't need to talk about it."

"I come here to cry uncle, Amilia's family runs the resturant, they let me stay here and cry for however long I want…"

He frowned at that, slowly pulling her back until he was looking her in the face. "Remember what I said earlier?" She nodded. "Well here's something more, it's time to move on kiddo, I really, really doubt Ignial wanted you to mourn him like this. How about this? Try and remember the funnest thing you two ever did together, and tell me about it?"

She looked up at him full on, bangs falling away from her right eye as she stared up at him. "Okay."

She readjusted herself so that she was fully facing him. "I… I remember this one time…"

* * *

 _184 AD Modern Day East China_

 _"_ _Daddy! Daddy! Look at all tha pretty colours!" Rya cheered, optics wide and filled with wonder as the night sky was lit up with the fireworks going off high above them._

 _Ignial chuckled, turning his helm down towards her, vibrant gold and blue ringed optics gazing down at her, his frame illumintated by the countless colours going off around them. "You want a better view?" He asked, kneeling down and resting his left arm down on his knee joint as he offered his other flat digit servo to her._

 _She instantly latched on, wrapping her arms around his thick one as he easily lifted her tiny frame off the ground and quickly moved her to the gap between his helm and his shoulder plating._

 _She didn't stay there, instead she began clambering up the side of his helm, her pede pushing down on his optic sheild at one point as she succeded in gaining her purchase sitting squarly between the two plates which his crest split into which ran over the top of his helm._

 _Ignial chuckled as he tilted his helm back slightly, watching the colourful explosions from the stone cut plateu made in the side of the mountain for him and the rest of his family to watch, courtesy of the local Lord, Xio Peng._

 _After a few seconds, Rya turned her attention down to Ignial. "Can I do that?" She asked, pointing to where the explosions lit up the sky above._

 _Ignial chuckled, a thoughtfull look doning his features as he tapped a flat digit against the side of his mouthplates. "Hmmmmmmmmmmm…. I don't see why not, you are a fire element yah little tyke… wanna try making your own?" He asked, tilting his helm ever so slightly to the left as he continued to watch._

 _"_ _Yeah! Yeah! Send me up daddy! Send me up!" She warbled, moving so that she could bounce on top of his helm, however, she was a bit to large and slipped, before she could fall any significant distance though, her form began floating, even moving round to face Ignial again as he raised an optic ridge at her now giggling form._

 _"_ _Having fun I see?" The two turned to find Aurora walking up to them in her organic form, a bright smile on her features as she came to a rest in front of them, sitting back on her haunches and her 's' shaped neck tilted to the side so that her right eye could lock on them._

 _Ignial shrugged as Rya continued to giggle, he himself manipulating where his daughter went, allowing her to spin around him like a moon in orbit around its planet. "Oh you know, same old, same old."_

 _Aurora turned her head to the left so that she could look at them more clearly, also showing the raised ridge over her eye. "Riiiggggghhhhhhhtttttttt, and I'm a Karp." She joked. "You two are always getting into trouble, and in turn, giving me a headache worthy of someone with an axe in their skull." The nine year old equivalent Titan rumbled._

 _Rya let off a honking laugh. A mischevious look blooming on her features as her optics began to glow around the edges. "Cheer up Ro! Yah need to relax!" She cheered._

 _Before Aurora could object, a loud bang went off behind her, causing her to let of a startled warble as she bolted forwards and spun to check her tail and hide, which was undamaged, before turning and glarring at where both Ignial and Rya where laughing. "Rya! What was that for?" She scowled._

 _Rya let off a light honk. "Daddy said I could!" She responded._

 _Imediately her heated glare moved to Ignial. The mech having the decency to look a little ashamed. "She wanted to know how to make fireworks… right yah little Firecracker? … Hey, Firecracker!" He cheered, easily plucking the youngling from her spot floating in the air so that he could lift her over his helm. "That's gonna be your nickname from now on! Little Firecracker!" He beamed._

 _Rya tilted her helm to the side in confusion as Auora huffed behind them, mumbling something neither of the two picked up on as she slunk off somewhere, the three sharp spikes at the end of her tail flicking from side to side decetedly._

 _Ignial and Rya ignored her, Ignial letting off a rumbling laugh as he tossed his daughter up into the air, leaving her to hover for a moment, before sending her flying round around his helm, his golden optics filled with mirth as Rya squealled happily, the equivalent to a four year old, yet she still acted like she was when she was a toddler._

 _"_ _You're spoiling her Ignial."_

 _He turned to see Harp perched on a small outcrop, the blue Harapgornis in her bipedal form for a change as she regarded the father daughter exchange._

 _Ignial left Rya to spin around him as he placed his servos on his hipplates, waggling a digit at the elderly femme. "Now, now Harp, if memory serves, you did the exact same with Aurora until she 'declared her independence', and so, you have no grounds to accuse me of spoiling my little girl, you hypocrite."_

 _Harp glared at him. "Hypocrite? Me? You're the one who favours Rya after the rest of the younguns." Harp responded._

 _Ignial just shrugged in response. "What can I say? Razor's able to take care of himself, and Sonic has Uri, and there's no way I'm going near Uri , besides, they're all carnivores."_

 _Harp rolled her optics. "You know that's not a valid point."_

 _Ignial huffed, pulling Rya out of the air and hugging her to his chassis. "It is and you know it!"_

 _Harp huffed again in response, turning away and heading to the edge of the man-made cut out. "Just make sure she gets to bed at a decent time tonight."_

 _"_ _No promises!"_

 _"_ _Yeh! Nah promizes!"_

* * *

Present time, Rya's POV

'What are you doing!'

I almost hissed out loud at my less than friendly second persona. 'Trying to move on! It's been seventy years! Uncle's right! It's time to move on!'

The tone of voice became softer, as she always did when it came to trying to convince me to go to her side. 'But… sweet pea…why? Don't you love Ignial anymore? Are you really going to just give up on your daddy? The one who raised you from the moment he saw you?'

'I do still love him, Uncle is just that, an uncle figure, not father, no one will ever replace my daddy.'

'How do you think he would feel if he did somehow come back? Seeing his little girl being looked after by someone else?'

'SHUT UP! Leave me alone! I want to a live life like I used to! Not what I've been living in since he was killed! It's time to move on!'

'But… little firecracker… very well… rot for all I care… I was just trying to keep you safe…'

'Then you're just as bad as you accuse Cliffjumper of! You fucking hypocrite!'

'I am not a hypocrite, I am just what you created in the moment of your greatest emotional turmoil.'

'The day I lost my father and let my element form consume me! I know! Shut up!'

'The day which had to be wipped from existence to uphold the Clans name, Soundave worked so hard to wipe all those peoples minds… what's to say, that by making this mistake, you lose him as well… are you really willing to risk so many lives when you know the consequences? When you know that you have absolutely no control over yourself? How close did Aurora and Liara come to having to kill you? What were your siblings reactions again, horror, fear and distress right? Imagine what Ignail would of felt if he saw you lose control like that? Kill so many humans, innocent of crime and sin, now imagine what would happen, if you lost Cliffjumper in present day… if you truly became close to him like a neice…'

"SHUT THE HOLY FUCK UP!" I screamed, causing Cliffjumper to jolt from where he'd been examining the menu I'd pulled up.

Shit… he wasn't supposed to hear me!

"Rya? You okay kiddo?" He asked, slowly reaching out and placing his hand on my shoulder. "Yah phased out for a bit there… So… I kinda let you be… you look stressed."

'The closer he becomes… the more you risk the lives of millions.'

I shook my head and turned back to focus on him. "Sorry, just having an argument with… myself… You decided yet?"

He gave me a deadpan look. "I would've, if it wasn't written in some odd language!" He exclaimed, gesturing to the floating display.

I took a look myself and reaslised he couldn't understand my native language, oopps.

Reaching the option function I pressed the button to rescan, grabbing his hand I moved it so his index figure made contact with the scanner, this was after all an easily remedied problem.

After a moment or two of contact, the text shifted to one I personally knew absolutely knew nothing about. But, Uncle sure did. "That… that's Cybertronian, Polyhexian variant to be exact." He muttered.

I nodded. "Yep, the scanner analyses the energy you put out from your furnace, and from there, works out everything it needs, this scanner, scans the users primary language so they can us it efficiently." I explained. "And in turn, I have no idea what it reads, so, I'm going to pull up my own menu. "So… uncle, what do you want to talk about… we're in a private booth, no one will interupt us… Any questions?" I asked.

He turned to look at me, apparently not noticing his finger press the option for the Koilumi, eh, he'll probably enjoy it. "How about… what did Ignial look like?"

I shook my head after a moment. "I'll take you the Meuseum of Art after this, there's a portrait of him there, along with a lot of stuff her did himself…" The thought of his room came to mind, but I quickly shook it loose.

Uncle nodded. "Fine by me, I want to see the mech… wish I could of met him…" He trailed off and I decided to switch subject.

"How's Arcee doing?"

"Her afts giving her greif, she can't sit down, her winglets are getting larger and she's gonna have to scan a new larger altmode, her size is increasing." He listed off, a small yet slightly sad smile visible, ancients give me mercy…

I nodded in understanding. "She won't have to scan a new alt mode remember."

"Huh?" Was his oh so inteligent response.

My eyes rolled in their sockets. "Cliff, she has her element, did you actually tell her about element shifting? Or did you forget?" It was pretty obvious to me it was the latter.

His jaw was hanging loose for about three seconds after all. "I'll take that as a no." I muttered. "Uncle, next you see her, tell her okay? She can also use it to hide the fact she's a Predacon and not draw questions from the Cons, Sound may be incredible at what she does but she has a limit to how many she can hide Arcee's less than normal features from at a time."

He just starred at me for a moment before getting distracted by our food arriving, the large serpent sliding through a hole in the wall, before coming to a stop in front of us.

Uncle got back up to sit in his original spot, watching as I showed him how to get the food, honestly, I was thirteen mentally yet I had to show him how to get food? A grown adult?

Oh well, by the way her was now wolfing that stuff down without the cutlery provided, I assumed he liked it.

Well, no need to let good food go to waste.

I quickly moved to enjoy my own meal, I wonder if Amylia would like to join us for the tour of the mueseum, she's a way better tour guide, and her sisters can cover for her easily.

But there was still the elephant in the room to adress, oh boy…

"Hey, I've heard this music before…" Uncle mumbled through a large mouth full off food.

I nodded. "Yup, it's called Broken Arrows… I think, the surface may not know about us outside of a few higers ups, but we certainly know their music, you'll probably here quite a few during the Otami games, seeing as there are only so many Composers down here, you know, 16 million strong to 7 billion up there? Yeah."

Cliffjumper gave me an odd look. "Where are they all then? 16 million can't all fit in Qylata, and yes, I saw how massive this place is."

My jaw hung loose a little. "What part of the fact that there's twenty Caverns, counting the Palace, down here, did you miss exactly?"

"Oh… right… this is delicious though!"

"I know Uncle, I've eaten here ever since the place was built, I'd know."

* * *

Greenhouse 3rd POV three weeks later

"THIS SUCKS!

Aurora ducked as an empty plant pot soared over her horns, smashing to pieces against the floor behind her.

After looking at the shattered clay for a moment she turned back to her fuming sister. "Struggling?" She enquired, slowly making her way to the red and green Predacons side.

A low growl was her only answer as another gouge was cut into the tilled floor.

The optic roll came without her even noticing as she simply rose up on her back pedes and allowed herself to drop her full weight onto her sister, the unexpected weight sending her younger sister to the ground with her on top.

With a groan Emily shook her helm. "Not fair sis! Get off!" She growled, trying to twist in some way which would get the blue Predacon off her.

"Not until you calm down." Aurora responded, claws digging into the floor for extra grounding as she pressed herself down further, creating a large squirming cross of blues, red and green on the tilled floor.

After a few minutes Emily finally let off a long sigh. "Ok… get off." She huffed, wings fluttering slightly under their restraints.

Aurora rose back off, leaning back on her haunches slightly as she regarded the other Predacon. "We need to get to Southern Russia, Arachnid's landed." She stated firmly.

Emily nodded, moving over to where Spin-spin was, the giant arachnid clicked at her, fangs clacking together as Emily began to pet the giant spiders head. "Ready to hunt big girl?"

Spin-spin warbled, form shaking in visible excitement.

Aurora smiled at the sight. "One of the few times I'm glad she's based off the Brazilian wandering spider."

"And Goliath bird eating spider!" Emily added happily, a wide an only slightly not psychotic smile on her features.

Aurora just rolled her optics. "I'm going to go alert Razor and Rya, Liara said we'll need her to contain a fire for us."

The rumbling growl which came from behind her had her tilting her helm to the side slightly, so that her right optic could lock onto her red and green sister, whose frame was livid, the plants which surrounded her beginning to hiss, those with mouths snapping at one another, those which had teeth actually trying to bite the clay pots they were held in, like they wished to be free and go to their master's side.

"Who sets **_my_** **_property_** on **_fire_** _!_? _"_ She roared, frame rattling as her armour smashed against each other, tail gouging deep through the tiled floor and claws gripping the tiles underneath them so hard they simply shattered in her grip.

Aurora showed no sign of intimidation as she regarded Emily, optic ridge raising almost in challenge. "Careful Emily, rage will only make you more susceptible to you element form… and we do not need that right now." She stated, tone cold as she regarded the red and green Predacon, it was the only one which worked when Emily was in this state of mind, one loser than most to the edge of any Titan's emotional capacity.

Emily stilled instantly, shaking her helm with optics wide, her crushing grip leaving the tiles, now practically turned to dust. "No… I don't… I won't let that happen sis… sorry… you know how I get… when my precious… habitat…"

A low crooning sound began to flow from Aurora's throat, as she stepped closer and nuzzled the side of her helm with her sister's neck. "I know… I know how you feel… but you must learn to control your anger. The humans don't understand that they themselves are linked to you just as you main wards, as they are unaware that every drop of water within and around them is linked to me. And until the time is right, they will remain oblivious."

Emily lowered her own helm, copying her sister's motion off rubbing the side of her helm against the blue Predacons neck. After a moment she let off a short laugh. "Remember when I was that little human girl who loved trying to climb on you whilst you were resting?"

Aurora chuckled, shifting so her neck instead wrapped around her sister. "How could I? Whenever your family visited, I had to always watch out for your little grabbing hands… you're family always went straight to me by default whenever you wandered off…"

Emily chuckled, her own neck following her sister. "God… I miss them…" She mumbled.

Aurora pulled back, with a slight amount of effort pushing herself vertical on her haunches, front limbs spreading out. Emily was quick to do the same and embrace her. "Ikimuconak, valus corin Jimariunasuraval, tinack limariak embortrial, trinzalvack." She rumbled out, forked glossa sliding through the words with an ease unlike any other.

Emily barked a laugh. "Sis… I can't speak Titan dialect… nor understand it, what the hell was that?"

Aurora shook her helm. "At ease sister, my identical, Jiariunasuraval is your Titan name remember, you know, when you ran helm first into that wall? They will forever live on within your essence, my twin." She rumbled out. "I really need to get round to teaching you that." She rumbled back.

"Hell fucking no." Emily shot back.

Aurora shook her helm but relent. "Any, I need to go round up those two, you get Spin-spin ready, you haven't fed her today?"

Emily shook her helm. "Moment I found out about her hunting, I stopped feeding her, she's ravenous."

Aurora gave her sister an odd look. "Feed her then, Arachnid cannot die yet, unfortunately, but, with Spin-Spin simply a bit hungry she will be much more effective at terrorizing the femme. Give her something large to state her, only just enough though for her to become hungry again by the time she's to be let loose." Her word was final and the two released one another, waddling back awkwardly a few steps before they crashed back to the tiled floor, the impact cracking the ground more. "How is the progress with the resurrection by the way?"

Emily shot her a look, which lead to Aurora quickly adding. "I'm only curious, a pot flying over my head only tells me so much."

Emily let off a tired sigh as she pulled open a partially overrun freezer, pushing vines out of the way as she walked into the obviously freezing room. "Slower than my aunt's soup on the side of a cliff!" She yelled, the sound echoing within the metal chamber.

"Ahhhh, so nowhere." Aurora nodded. "What did she put in that thing anyway? I could never understand how she found a way for that thing to stick like that."

"I have no idea! She claimed it was an accidental creation but she used to buy a whole lot of stuff after the first batch, pig liver, goat gall stones, bulls tail, and horse hooves, why no one dared eat it." She finished before sinking her jaws into one of the hanging cow carcases in the freezer, hefting it off the hook and easily carrying it back outside to find Aurora with her helm hovering over a plant pot, left eye locked on her and showing guilt. "You threw up?" Aurora nodded. "Not gonna blame you, thank god I didn't mention the fish brains… and I just did."

This time Aurora did not hide the sound of the squelch multi-coloured molten goo as it left her throat and entered the pot.

"I am not cleaning that." Emily stated firmly.

A weak and apologetic smile was Aurora's only response before her optics rolled back into her helm as her throat convulsed again.

Emily let off an irritated huff as she quickly switched the almost full pot with an empty one, plugging the full one and placing it a little ways away so that she could then have it sent to the Qylatian Scientific research centre.

By the time Aurora had filled the fourth pot, Razor was already there.

"Sis… what the fuck cause you to bring that back up?!" A look of disgust being paramount as Aurora finally finished, pulling her helm away from the pot and spitting the remnants into the half full pot.

Aurora chose not to answer her younger brother, rising back to her dignified stature as she regarded the two before her. "I will repeat what I said to Emily earlier, you are needed in Russia to make sure all goes to plan with Arachnid, Spin-spin will be joining us."

Emily chuckled, regarding Aurora. "You sure about Rya joining on this?"

Aurora nodded. "Rya is the most effective at putting out fires, what with them being her element, have faith in your little sister."

Before anything else could be said Cliffjumper came barrelling into the greenhouse, Rya clinging to his beast forms shoulder plates with a wide opticed look to her features, apparently winded when he crashed into her. "I'm going to!" He called.

Aurora's helm pulled back a bit in surprise, formed an 's' shape as she tilted her helm to the left to regard the mech clearer with her right optic. "To Russia? Cliffjumper…"

"Arcee's going to be there, and I heard you say something about Arachnid, I'm going… she might need me… please Aurora… she's my intended." He begged, lowering into a submissive pose he'd sometimes seen Emily take when Aurora scolded her for doing something dangerous, after finding out about how Emily had come to join the group, he couldn't blame the blue Titan, currently in her Predacon form, from being worried about the identical member of the group to her whenever something got a little too out of hand, but right now, his main and only focus was on the fact that his mate was heading directly towards a nightmare, and not even knowing it.

The next moment seemed to drag on for an hour at least, the feather plume behind Aurora's crown of horns twitching right along with the blue painted protrusions, finally she answered. "Very well Cliffjumper, but you must remember to hold your glossa as you have during your previous encounters. But one of us will have to pull you through… Emily… you can practise later." Aurora added after she spotted Emily trying to stuff a cow skull into a satchel she'd put around the base of her neck which fell against the front of her ridged chassis.

Emily pouted, as much as her features would allow at least, before sighing and placing the cow skull back down. "Fine… but Sound's hatchlings will be coming any day now!"

Rya finally clambered down from Cliffjumper's shoulder plate, the Predacon mech only now seeming to realise she was there as his stout neck cables pulled back in surprise. "Where'd you come from?"

Rya huffed a plume of smoke but didn't answer, moving to stand at his side.

Aurora, Emily and Razor exchanged knowing looks to one another.

"You lot moving or not?" Sonic huffed as he strode into the greenhouse.

Razor was the first to respond. "I thought you were trying to calm down that class five hurricane over the Caribbean?"

Sonic shrugged. "Already done, it's a class three now, no one should die." He shrugged.

Razor ran a clawed servo down his faceplates. "You were meant to dissipate it completely bro!"

Sonic let off an irritated squawk. "My sky, my rules."

Aurora shook her helm, stepping up to the shortest of the mechs in the group, in turn towering over him. "Do you truly forget so easily Sonic? The rules that I laid down after the… incident… how, no matter what your feeling, you should not run the risk of innocent lives, yes nature is allowed to reset part of the natural balance, but it is our task to control it so that life can still be sustained, not destroyed." She declared, tone unswaying and demanding of an immediate answer from the younger mech.

Sonic stuttered for a moment, taking a single step back, before sighing and slumping. "It's… difficult…"

Aurora placed her right paw onto his shoulder, almost sending the far smaller mech to the ground with the weight she placed there, but the Hatze former was able to hold himself up somehow. "I know Sonic, just hold on, but we really need to get to Russia, Rya, you and Cliffjumper are going with Emily, sis, get Spin-spin in position, Razor, we'll see you there.

Sonic looked around his family plus one Predacon mech. "What about me?"

Aurora stared at him apologetically. "I need you to stay here and keep an optic on that hurricane, okay? Soon Sonic, I promise."

Sonic huffed. "I feel like a third wheel…" He mumbled.

Aurora shook her helm. "It's just how all of this has been going so far, don't threat little brother, you're time to join us in interventions will come soon."

Sonic nodded and stepped back. "I'll go check on those eggs." He stated before walking back out the entrance to the greenhouse, shoulderplates slumped slightly.

Aurora looked to Razor, the forest green and cobalt mech being the one to speak. "He'll come around sis, he's come this far since Uri disappeared."

Aurora nodded. "I know Razor, come on, if we dawdle any longer, we'll miss everything. Rya, you and Cliffjumper are to go with Emily, Razor, I need you to track Arcee, Jack and Arachnids movements throughout this, and Cliffjumper, you're not coming just to see your intended, if something happens and I'm not there, take over Arachnid and immobilise her."

Cliffjumper nodded sharply in understanding as he and Rya both held onto Emily as she dived into one of the larger trees, whose branches had long since broken through the glass roof of the greenhouse as it rose higher towards the fireball which lit the massive cavern.

Aurora nodded to Razor, who quickly dived into the tiled floor, disappearing into the brick red tiles in mere moments.

Looking around the room for a moment Aurora spotted the fossil Emily had been working on before she'd thrown the flower pot at her, stepping closer she observed the detailed etchings made into it, the finely gouged lines as they curved into the correct symbols, all but one, she'd missed the small chip which had to be made in the centre of the top left space, shaking herself, she quickly flicked the bone with a single claw, correcting the slight mistake. "Not bad… for a beginner."

She winced though when something bit down on her tail, turning to find the source she found it to be a large venus fly trap. With a flick of her tail she'd gotten her tail free, in the process ripping the head off the plant, quickly she kicked the headless plant into one of the patches of dense foliage which made the greenhouse look more like a jungle, and prayed to the Ancients Emily wouldn't figure out it had been her which had killed the plant.

Deciding not to press her luck, she went other to the water tank and pulled the lid off, before diving in, she'd have a bit of a trek from the nearby river, but she should get there in time for things to start really kicking off, especially if she ran, hopefully she wouldn't knock too many trees down in the process.

* * *

Southern Russia

Arcee's vents where laboured as she felt herself pinned against the wall, watching as Jack, her charge, slid down the embankment, drawing Arachnid's attention to him instead of her. "No…"

Activating her wrist blade she quickly freed her arm, shifting it to her blaster instead just in time to shoot the femme which had caused her so much pain, Arachnid was knocked back seemingly knocked into stasis by the unprecedented hit.

"I told you to stay put!" She snapped at Jack, watching as he began trying to pull at the webbing holding her in place.

"Well partners don't ditch partners!" Jack responded back, shooting the cobalt femme a look, for some reason glad she'd figured out a way to hide her new frame, she looked exactly the same as she had before she'd had her spark messed with by that cloaked figure.

"Get this through your head Jack, you're not my partner! You're a liability!" She shot back.

Rya looked over to where Cliffjumper stood next to her, their robes hiding their features as they continued to watch the human and disguised Predacon femme argue.

"I don't believe it! You're scared Arcee! And you're never scared!" Jack shot back, sending his guardian a glare as he began pulling at the webbing.

She stared at him for a moment before responding. "You're right Jack, I am scared, of losing you!"

Cliffjumper was suddenly next to Rya, at her questioning look he whispered. "Hold onto me, I need something to ground me, I know I can't attack Arachnid." The claws on his feet began digging into the bark of the tree branch they were standing on. "No matter how much I wanna rip that piece of…" His voice trailed off, but Rya fully understood, tail coming out from where she'd wrapped it around her middle to instead wrap around his ankle, whilst her right hand took a fistful of robe from his back.

"Thanks." He rumbled, turning his attention away to where he last saw Emily, the robbed figure having been almost showing off as she leapt from branch to branch like he'd seen in those Japanese anime about Samurai, leading her giant pet away so it wouldn't be spotted by either of the three they were watching.

* * *

Half an hour later

Aurora and Emily stood side by side on one of the thick and bare branches of a tree overlooking Arachnids ship, Aurora's eyes locked on Rya and Cliffjumper, the two standing on the other side of the ship, Rya ready to control the explosion Jack was about to generate, currently feeding the small flame he was trying to form so it would be ready in time.

Emily's own eyes were locked on Arachnid as she sprinted across the top of her ship, waiting to release the high pitched frequency once the fire was contained so that her beloved pet could have her fun.

From their position they could easily see the small flaming branch fly through the air, landing in the pool of liquid energon.

"Here we go…. Here we go…" Aurora mumbled, listening to Arachnid's cry at the human teen as she realised what he'd done, those which surrounded the area quickly lifted the sides of their cloaks, preparing to block out the flash of the explosion and try to prevent any possible debris from hitting them.

"JACK!"

A moment later the energon imploded, ripping through the ship, the blue and orange flame pouring out in an almost wave of fire which lost momentum just before it reached them, warming their previously chilled forms.

Just before Jack was engulfed, a large rock wall formed, Razor having come to the teens rescue as Rya quickly pulled the fire back into one concentrated spot, before calling the small ball of fire to her and taking it in her hand to crush.

It was all over in a few moments, leaving Arachnid dazed and Jack stumbling to his feet, checking his body over for damage, only to turn and spot the wall of rock which had appeared out of nowhere, the teens head quickly spun, landing on Razor's own cloaked form, Razor nodded to the teen before simply merging with the earth beneath him, almost like the ground itself had sucked him down, leaving the teen standing there stunned.

Aurora nudged Emily as Arachnid stumbled back to her eight legs, a look of murder yet confusion as she took in the lack of fire around her, but she quickly brushed it off, instead choosing to charge towards the sixteen year old teen.

With a smirk Emily took a breath, before forcing the air back out, producing a high pitched whine that Jack wouldn't be able to hear due to a humans limited hearing range, the high pitched sound however, did cause Aurora to nearly stumble out of the tree, having not expected it to be at such a pitch that her vision fluctuated for a moment. Thankfully Emily was able to brace her as Spin-spin leapt from her hiding place, the giant arachnid hybrid crashing into the spider femme and sending the two of them tumbling off the front of the ship to land in front of Jack, who with a started scream, bolted, having clearly not expected to see an organic spider the size of a bus attacking Arachnid.

Arachnid was quick to defend herself, trying to quickly get away from the giant arachnid before spraying thick webbing over the giant female spiders eight eyes, causing Spin-spin to hiss at her before she sunk her fangs into the femmes side, elating a scream from her as the venom was transferred, however, Emily had seen to neutralising the toxin temporarily, preventing the femme from being offlined by the normally lethal dose which was being pumped into her, at most, the only lasting effect would be the large puncture wounds.

Aurora nudged Emily again once her ears had recovered. "As much as I hate to remind you, Arachnid needs to live."

Emily let off a groan before sending a signal to Spin-spin to call her off, but only after the giant spider had partially crushed one of the femme's spindly legs, the larger spider hissed once more, before using her front left claws to rip away the webbing, she then stalked off into a large chasm Razor had created earlier for her to hide in until Arachnid was gone.

Stunned, Arachnid stumbled back to her pedes, before turning back to the direction Jack had run, the human teen been given hopefully a large enough head start to get back to his guardian.

Aurora let off a sigh as she rose back to her full height from the crouched position she'd taken. "Alright everyone, let's keep on their tails." With that she leapt away after Arachnid and Jack.

Rya and Cliffjumper were quick to follow as Emily stayed, turning to tend to her precious pet. Jumping from the tree she quickly ran over to the cavern, jumping down she landed with a roll to soften the ten metre fall. "Hey Spinny… yeah… you did good girl." She praised as she began to rub her pets head, checking for any injuries on her pets form, there was a medium sized cut on her underbelly, but it was already healing, the blue blood that all arachnids had already crusting over to stop the bleeding. "You made momma so proud!" Emily trilled, taking her pet's head in her hands and rubbing her forehead between her pets eight eyes as she responded with a series of happy clicks and chirps.

The rest of the group had already taken their new positions, watching as Arcee delivered strike after strike to her former tormentor, Rya leant over to rest her head on Cliffjumper's shoulder, his form was still taught as his optics remained locked on his intended as she continued to fight, they continued to watch on as Arcee delivered a ferocious kick to the femme acrahcnid, sending her crashing through tree after tree.

Leaving Arcee to stand there panting, forked glossa falling out of her mouth in a pant before she reared back her helm and released a triumphant bellow towards the heavens.

And with the bellow, came a plume of cobalt blue flame, racing upwards, only just not roasting the branches around the edge of the clearing she now stood in.

Rya nudged Cliffjumper in the side, whose eyes quickly snapped off his intended to her. "Careful mech, now is not the time to go fumbling in the woods."

At her remark Aurora hissed at her to be quiet as Arcee made her way over to the currently stuck human, whilst Cliffjumper was searching online for what his niece had implied.

Once he realised what she'd said, he had no luck fighting down the blush which rose to his cheeks and the near tumble out of the tree they were perched in. "Rya!" He hissed himself, giving her a light shove as she just giggled; Aurora shuffled along the branch quietly to his other side and whispered into his audios.

"She's always been a bit perverted, we blame Ignial's influence." She stated.

Shaking his helm he turned to see his intended com-linking Ratchet, time to go he figured, he'd see her tonight so he wouldn't have to wait long to see her, turning he found the two females already jumping away. "Hey! Wait up!" He hissed before launching himself, only realising a second too late of the noise he'd caused.

Arcee's helm snapped round to the sound of rustling branches, servo already shifted into a blaster in case Arachnid had come back for round two, only to halt at the red and silver robbed figure leaping away. "Cliff…" She mumbled, knowing instantly who the figure was without even having to take in the metallic sheen on the robe, he was here, he'd been watching.

Just ahead of her intended she spotted blue robe, and a shorter figure running across the branches, their feet hidden from view by the long robes, but the black and red robe wasn't hard to miss in the leafless forest, especially with the almost flicker that seemed to come off the edges like embers, similar to faint spray which seemed to come off blue robe.

Turning back to her partner she shifted her servo back to normal. "You see anything strange happen?" She asked.

Jack chuckled like he was halfway to passing out. "Oh you know! And explosion getting sucked into the size of a golf ball… rocks suddenly leaping from the ground to save me from being roasted alive and a giant spider the size of a bus attacking Arachnid! No I didn't see anything too out of the ordinary! You?!" He rambled, the stress having clearly frayed his nerves.

Shaking her helm she bent down to gently place her servo on his shoulder. "Easy partner, don't think your mom will appreciate you coming home unconscious."

Jack took in a slow breath, held it for a moment before releasing it. "Whoever that lot is… they certainly are weird…" He mumbled.

Arcee nodded, turning to look around again, checking one last time for her escaped nemesis.

Moments later a Groundbridge appeared in front of them. "Come on… junior partner." She teased, walking at his pace as they made their way back to base. Arachnid already having long since disappeared.

* * *

The Cavern, green house

Emily hummed a random tune as she walked away from Spin-Spin, the giant arachnid now sleeping under the large tree at the centre of the greenhouse. "Ok… back to work." She mumbled.

Picking up her test fossil, a large femur, the species currently unknown, she allowed the vines which crisscrossed across the floor of the greenhouse to shift, converging on her and wrapping around her lower half, slowly feeding her the extra energy she'd need for her next attempt, she'd make one more attempt before turning in, seeing as everyone else was already out cold in their rooms.

"Sixteenth times the charm right?" She continued to mumble before getting to work.

* * *

Aurora's room.

Aurora sighed as she allowed herself just to float around just under the surface of the water, Harp was currently on her perch, already out cold from another long day of being her wing brace,

She could feel the strength in her wings already returning, hence why she'd been able to sleep without Harp on her for the last sixteen years, and it wasn't long now till she'd be able to open them wide and take to the skies once more.

Just as she was drifting off though, the very walls of her bedroom seemed to shake with an almighty roar, the sound jolting her into breaking the surface to look around her dark room to try and locate the source of the sound. Harp had been woken by the sound as well, the elderly bird shook her helm tiredly as she took to the air only to quickly wrap around Aurora's wings as the female Titan pulled herself from her pool, a look of irritation bordering on anger on her features as she strode to the door, scales, feathers and wings dripping streams of water as she grabbed the door handle with her maw, almost ripping the massive door off its hinges as she began to take a step into the corridor.

Only for a panicked red with green patched giraffe to gallop past, bellowing in fright as it shot past.

Sticking her head and neck out into the corridor she watched her younger sister skid into the wall at the end of the corridor before continuing to run left. "Em? What the… YAH!" She would've continued had a pale blue, purple and green form not crashed into her neck, the impact sending her head slamming into the wall like a whip, thankfully the horns hit first and not her jaw, resulting in a large crack in the marble wall from where the external bone protrusions struck the marble, getting lodged there in the process.

After a few dazed moments she was able to slide her horns back out of the holes they'd made, shaking her helm from side to side as she tried to get rid of the sudden dizziness she was experiencing. "What… what was that?" She mumbled, running her forked tongue over her teeth to check to see if any had been knocked out of place, thankfully there was no long lasting damage, just a slight numbness somehow mixed with a throbbing sting, a few nerves had likely been damaged.

 **"** **No clue, you okay Ro?"** Harp messaged.

Aurora shook her head from left to right again. "Yeah… just dazed…" The sound of quiet pede steps drew her attention to Soundwave, who was running towards her, the black markings on the femme Predacon's helm which were styled similar to her visor not hiding the worried look in her bright blue optics.

"Are you alright Aurora? I heard the roar and thought someone had stepped on your tail or something!" She rambled, looking like she'd only woken up a minute prior, which given what had happened, would be accurate.

Aurora nodded. "Yeah… I saw Emily run by in that giraffe form of hers, stuck my helm out to see what she was doing, then this big blur crashed into me, and now I'll be cleaning marble chips out of my feathers for days." She grumbled, finally stepping fully out into the hallway.

Soundwave tilted her helm in confusion. "Emily was running from something?" She then proceeded to look around at the corridor for something. "Okayyyy… nope… world doesn't look like it's falling apart at the seams." She mumbled before letting out a tired yawn and rubbing her left optic with her front clawed pede.

Aurora rolled her optics. "Come on, we need to find out who that intruder is." She stated before stumbling down the corridor for a few steps, before shifting into her bipedal form to turn around in the tight corridor and walk back to her room. "In the morning." She mumbled.

Soundwave stared at Aurora incredulously. "You're not going to help save your own non-biological twin from mortal danger?"

Aurora was about to step through the door, before sighing and bowing her helm. "Is there something truly wrong with wanting to sleep?"

Soundwave shook her helm. "Technically no, but the life of your sister and only other currently fully operational Titan does seem to be currently running from an unknown danger like a bat out of the depths of Unicrons aft."

Aurora responded with a groan, turning back around and stalking down the corridor, down the way Emily and the blur had come from. "I'll go this way, you go that way, the hatchery locked right?" She asked.

Soundwave nodded even though Aurora couldn't see it due to how she was standing. "Yes, nothings getting in to hurt my twins." She rumbled before making her way down in the opposite direction to the blue femme.

"Then good luck." Aurora responded before stalking round a corner.

Soundwave shook her helm, knowing that Aurora was currently in a mood less than favourable to anyone she walked into. Hopefully this would all get sorted out before a fight broke out.

* * *

 **Well, quite a bit happens here, and yes, I realize I missed the bit where arachnid got away, but I think that Jack's possible freak out was more important to Arcee to keep tabs on. Also, Emily's first resurrection, any guesses? Lunarburst23, she's your OC, so no cheating. If anyone wants to cheat, the Oc in question has already made an appearance in Lunar's fic, What's the worst that could happen, it's a really good fic which if you haven't read yet, I advise you check out, as long as your old enough for the mature content that is.**

 **Well, until next time, see yah!**

 **Moon**


	15. Some things, shouldn't be rushed

**This chapter really should of been out sooner, but, other things in my personal life have slowed me down a bit, as well as an increase in school work taking up a good part of my time. So, sorry for the long wait, the 'blur' belongs to Lunarburst23, everyone else belongs to me, so, without further adieu, enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 15

Aurora let out a volatile hiss, neck rearing up as her feathers flared outwards, making her head look larger as she quickly shifted from left to right, keeping her target out of her blind spot without leaving her optics too vulnerable at the same time.

Rya and the others where all standing a good distance back, the Dracorex pressing herself into Cliffjuper's side under his furled up wing, Razor stood to their right, acting as deterrent in case the creature decided to try and attack anyone else.

Aurora swayed her form from side to side, savage hiss continuing as she used her gills to draw in the air needed for the prolonged sound. Wings seeming to strain against Harp's hold with the need to spread wide to further her intimidation.

It had taken two and a bit hours to corner Emily's first ever successful resurrection, by that point, it had become very clear that a mistake had been made in the bone which had been selected, and by the fact that the Cybertronian Baryonyx had two substantial bat like wings flaring wide, it was apparent Emily had given the Baryonyx an overdose of Titan essence, the six long horns protruding from the sides of crocodilian helm accentuating that.

Emily gasped, now back in her bipedal form, her servos gripped at the claws wrapped tightly around her neckcables, which were cutting off her air intake, causing her strength to falter and vision to blur, her frame pressed hard against the rocky face which was the edge of their home cavern.

Cliffjumper nudged Rya's side. "Emily doesn't look to good." He murmured.

Rya nodded. "She's overheating, it's hot enough as it is down here anyway and she's not getting air to her furnace, it could go two ways, critical or snuff out, Ro's gotta get this settled… now."

Cliffjumper frowned as much as his beast form would allow. "Why aren't we doing anything again?"

Rya huffed. "Dominance, Ro's the alpha, she has to get that Baryonyx under control otherwise things will get complicated and might turn hairy." She explained simply, tucking herself further into his side.

Cliffjumper then turned back, only to watch as the Baryonyx finally released Emily, instead taking a threatening step towards where Aurora was standing, blocking the creatures way to them, the Baryonyx was predominately a pale blue, decorated with odd patches of pale green, with an equally pale purple running down the sides from its back, similar to Razor's own, yet thinner, this one's colouration was quite a bit calmer than the vibrant colours those in the group where adorned with, but his focus quickly shifted as Aurora lifting up on her back legs, helm towering high above the Baryonyx, keeping her helm far out of its reach.

But it exposed her underbelly.

Seeing this the Baryonyx charged, letting off a low roar as it tried to bite onto her underbelly, only for Aurora's back legs to act like springboards, sending the much larger Predacon up into the air and out of the Baryonyx's reach, Aurora then crashed back to the ground, her large weight causing the ground to shake with the impact, the sudden shake sent the Baryonyx off balance, but it quickly recovered, turning sharply to charge again, lethal claws extended out in a sign of threat as its wings extended outwards, although smaller than Aurora, it was clear that the blue Titan was having to be careful, without flight they were technically on a level playing field, when it came to external advantages that is.

This continued for a few minutes, the two trying to land finishing blows on one another, bellowing and roaring at one another to try and get the other to back down, but there was a determination in both of them that seemed to radiate outwards, almost seeming like it could take a physical form and join in the clash itself.

It all came to an end though when Aurora's tail whipped round like a bullwhip, the flat side slamming into the Baryonyx's helm, the force of the strike knocking the dazed creature to the ground with a resounding crack which caused the area around it to condense with the small sonic boom, the impact sent the Baryonyx rolling across the ground, resulting in dirt, grass and stone flying a good distance as its frame came to a stop.

Aurora didn't give it time to recover, pouncing on the dazed frame, rearing back only to screech into the creatures audios, causing those surrounding to rear back, Cliffjumper, having been the least expecting of the sound, ended up rolling onto his right with his hasty attempt to cover his concealed audios, forgetting momentarily he was in his beast form and needed at least three pedes on the ground to remain upright.

The Baryonyx flinched as its audios where assaulted, but relented when Aurora's massive pede pressed harder against its neck, as her own helm shifted downwards, pushing the Baryonyx's leg out of the way and seeming to take a sniff.

Cliffjumper had just righted himself with Rya and Razor's help when he saw that, almost falling over again as Aurora declared. "Female."

'She just sexed it?! Her!' He thought in shock.

Rya seemed to sense his shock as Razor stepped forwards towards the two previously duelling femmes. "She had to do the same with the rest of us you know? Well, excluding Ig." She chuckled, seeming to remember something funny.

Aurora eased off the pressure she'd placed on the Baryonyx, with the help of Razor they coaxed the Baryonyx into a standing position, compared the two, the femme was significantly smaller, but, she was also larger than Cliffjumper, excluding the extra height the wings granted still made her larger than Cliffjumper, Rya, Soundwave and Sonic.

Aurora was the first to speak after that, but addressed Razor. "Now then, I have a pool with my name on it and I fully intend to sleep for the next three days now, and someone had better be dying or the planet breaking apart if you have wake me up before then. Razor, she's all yours, have fun." She declared, before walking back towards the Palace.

At this que, they all seemed to disperse, Soundwave walking over to check on Emily and help her right herself, having for the most part recovered from her time without air circulation.

Cliffjumper quickly caught up with Rya and Sonic, for once the grey and blue mech was walking on his four limbs, instead of just taking off and flying back, which looked a bit odd with how out of scale his wings where to his back legs, likely due to the fact he and Rya were in an avid conversation he couldn't make heads or tails of seeing as they were using seemingly random, animalistic sounds to communicate with one another.

Resulting in him being well and truly lost. He jolted when something tapped his side though, turning his stout neck round he found Soundwave walking beside him on all four pedes, not the back two he'd seen her run on before. Somehow the grass itself didn't seem to rustle with her steps. "They're speaking Sironexus, the language all Prehistoric creatures around the Cretacious period spoke." She answered his unasked question.

Cliffjumper released a low rumble in understanding, tilting his neck round to check on Razor, he was standing over the winged Baryonyx, a look of confusion yet intrigue in his optics as he stared down at the smaller metallic being.

He couldn't blame the mech for looking lost as the femme Baryonyx returned his gaze equally.

* * *

Razor's POV

Well shit, now what?

I'd lost track of how long we'd been awkwardly staring at one another before I finally spoke, using my own native tongue in hopes that one with such close relations to my own species would understand. "So… Rough day?"

She stared back at me for a long moment before letting off an aggravated huff. "What the heck was wrong with her?! That was… rude!" She suddenly exclaimed, revealing the light tenor her voice was constructed from.

The chuckle I responded with, I hadn't even been expecting her to speak, yet here she was... must of absorbed some of Emily's knowledge like Em did with Ro. "That's just Ro's way when she's tired; Em resurrected you at a bad time when it comes to Ro's daily tolerance levels. In fact, it's a miracle she didn't kill you for slamming her head into that wall!" I exclaimed, I wasn't joking either, she only held back I assume because she was Em's first successful resurection. "Now then, I'm Razor, the… third largest of the group normally." This wasn't going to be easy.

She nodded, turning her helm to look down at herself, finally noticing the changes, it had taken all of us a while too, a minute or so for me, I can't remember how long it took everyone else though. "What… what happened to me?!" She exclaimed, stumbling backwards, acting on impulse I quickly brought my larger beast form parallel to her, supporting her so she didn't go down, getting back up from being knocked on one's side was always a pain in the aft.

Her attention snapped back to me, wide green, hazel and red all merging together in an odd yet mesmerising way, she didn't have blue optics, we hadn't had a member like that sine Ignial was murdered, well except Em actually now that I remembered her dual coloured optics, Uri had had some weird optics too, not that Sonic ever let anyone say it when we were near her, not that we would, staying alive had always been the number one priority of our group. "Well, I'll put it how Ro said it when she resurrected the rest of us 'Welcome to your future and our present! Next time, don't roar so loud." I quoted, waving my arms in the air above my helm as much as my beast form allowed, like Ro had with her wings that day.

She chuckled. "Well… too late for that I guess… Ro?"

"The one who pinned you to the ground and the Alpha of our group, she used to be a lot more carefree." I admitted, shrugging my shoulder plates.

She tilted her helm to the left before realisation seemed to dawn on her. "Oh…. And the one there when I came too?" She asked.

"Ro's non-biological twin sister Emily, it's a long story." I admitted before noticing something. "You know, the rest of us freaked out like there was no tomorrow when reality sunk into us, why are you so calm?" I asked, it was a legitimate question, when I'd come too and realised the situation, and Ro had made that remark about being in the future, and somehow alive… without her, I passed out… No! I couldn't regress back into memories of those times! They happened millions of years ago! Everything has been buried both figuratively and literally.

She shrugged, apparently not sensing my own inner turmoil. "Oh trust me, the panic attack I'm going through is not easy to hide, yet, somehow, manageable." She admitted, seeming to smirk at me. "So, where the hell am I? We?" She asked, hazel green and red optics darting around our forested surroundings.

I tilted my helm up towards the clouds which completely blotted out Rya's fireball, leaving the only light as the bioluminescent moss and fungi which littered the area, producing an ethereal light which left the thick twisting trees which Emily was so proud of illuminated with every faded neon glow under the fire ball. "This is my home, well, Ro technically rules the roost, but we all live with her, and now, I guess it's your home too, if you want to stay here?"

She tucked her arms closer to herself, as did her wings, the notion jolting her and causing her head to snap round, nearly gouging the left side of my helm open with those horns of hers. "What the! … What are those things!?" She exclaimed, not a moment later she tripped, and I had no time to react before she crashed into my side, winding me as we both went down, crushing quite an expanse of glowing fungus I'd just been admiring… Em's gonna have my helm when she wakes up and sees that tomorrow.

"Ow…" I groaned out as she continued to freak out, yanking at the pieces of metal which covered her frame, looks like the low light had left her a little numb to our physical nature.

She was still too distracted, so, seeing as she was partially pinning me, I began making a low rumble, one I hoped she'd recognise, even with the metallic ring it now bore due to the fact I was no longer organic.

It seemed to work as she stilled, but her tricolour optics still remained wide and scared. "Yeah, I had that same reaction… after Rya bit my tail." I tried.

It didn't work. "Wh-what is this stuff! Why can't I get it off!" She exclaimed, her stress levels were rising fast, if she didn't calm down soon, then we'd both be in trouble.

Deciding to go for a more physical approach I reached up, trapped her maw in my right clawed servo, and pressed her helm into the ground as gently as I could, it had the desired effect, she stilled, understanding the position of dominance I was showing, I didn't in anyway enjoy doing such a thing, but she needed to calm down. "I get it, this is new, weird, and a whole billion different ways unnatural, but you have to understand, that you have no idea what's going on, but you need to calm down. Now. Once your calm, I can attempt to explain everything, but until then, you helm stays there. Got it?" Ancients, I hated doing this, but this situation was forcing my servo.

She just stared up at me with her single visible optic for a solid minute before she shifted in the way of a nod, and I pulled back and helped her back up.

Shaking my own helm I banged my side lightly into hers, telling her nonverbally to start walking, I honestly wanted to get to bed as soon as possible, and with everyone else likely already collapsing to their beds again, mine was the only other one she could rest on, until a new room was set up for her. "There, now, you can stay with me tonight as we weren't expecting a new arrival, so you don't have your own room yet." She looked completely lost with what I just said… wasn't gonna blame her.

Damnit! We need to work out a name for her!

Think! Think! Think! She's a Baryonyx for one thing, a fish eater by nature like myself err… Scally?

The frag? Damnit, Ro came up with ours on a whim!

Unfortunately, I hadn't seen the tree we were walking by.

Cause not a moment later I banged the small crest which sat over where my processor was, directly against the solid branch. Note to self, go have a word with Emily in the morning about low hanging branches.

One, that hurt like the time I banged my helm through the ceiling again. Which hadn't been a fun experience the first time.

And two, seeing as the odd trait runs in the family, an idea for her name came to me, just like that, why banging our helms in gives us ideas for names? I have no fragging clue.

"Baraxial! Bara for short!" Well, it was as good as I could come up with.

She just stared at me. "You okay there? That was quite a nasty bang to the head you got there." She stated, lowering her tail, which was tipped by quite the wicked spear edge closer to the ground so that her helm was just over my own, looking over the damage.

I sidestepped her, having decided better against going under that tree, seeing as my sail was just going to get banged in by that same branch and a few others if I kept going in that exact direction. "I'm fine Bara, my helm can take a lot more punishment then it could back before Ro resurrected me!" I tried to reassure her, seeing as her claws where trying to push my helm down so that she could inspect the non-existent bump.

It didn't seem to help much, but she decided to switch the topic. "Bara? Baraxial? You sure that bang didn't knock something lose in there?" She asked, trying to actually shake my helm to see if she could hear something clank loose… ancients she's a bit pushy.

I couldn't help but chuckle and shake my helm to free it from her claws. "You needed a name, and every one of us in my family have this odd thing where if we bang our helms in, either we become aware of our Titan name, or some other name which fits us or those around us. And Baraxial was the one I thought for you, me? I was originally Razujauncki, but we decided to shorten it to Razor." I tried to explain, but she still looked dumbfounded.

And I became very aware of the fact I likely wasn't going to get any rest in tonight, joyous.

Maybe I should've kept going with that tree? Yeah, Em would have my aft later, but, I could honestly see why Ro didn't want to deal with this, no offense to Bara, but Em chose a really bad time of the day to do this.

Likely really, after we'd already all gone to recharge?!

Next I see Emily, I'll probably hit her under the back of her helm to get her back for this, and no way was I risking my servo on those horns of hers though.

* * *

Three days later

"Whoa! Bara! That's not to be eaten! That's Ro's!" Rya shouted bolting towards where the newest member of the group was trying to eat the large amber which sat upon the medium sized pedestal. "That was a gift to her from the Sultan of Abudabi!" She exclaimed, finally reaching Bara's side and grabbing the other side of the large amber, trying to tug it loose from the Baryonyx's jaw.

Bara had, so far, not left her beast form, and so, the tug of war which insured was one of quite odd circumstances.

At least until Cliffjumper came lumbering down the corridor having heard the growing commotion from his room. "Whoa! Rya? Bara? What's going on over here?!" H exclaimed, rushing over to the two trying to push the them apart, before spotting the amber and realising the situation. "Bara! That's not meant to be eaten!" He exclaimed, with his help they were able to dislodge the large piece, sending all three of them tumbling backwards.

Bars growled as she rose back to her pedes. "I just wanted to know what it tasted like! I thought it was one of those 'sweets' you told me about!" She responded.

Cliffjumper sighed, rising back to his pedes, the last three days had not been easy on anyone, Bara was proving… difficult, to bring up to speed, he figured that Aurora had had it a bit easier what with the lack of technology and even manners when she brought the others to life, but now, the sheer time gap and how much the world had changed, was not sitting very well with the Baryonyx.

Rya shook her helm. "It's a chunk of amber Bara, fossilised tree sap, with a few insects trapped within, like I said, it was a gift to Ro… which now has your teeth marks in it… Great." She grumbled, pulling out what seemed to be a Cybertronian sized human tablet. "Added Ro's Amber collection to the list of non-edibles… seventeen pages long already…" With a sigh she shook her helm, transformed into her beast form and walked away, planning to alert her older sister to the teeth marks which had been added to one of the largest pieces of her Amber collection.

Cliffjumper nudged Bara's side, who had slumped to the floor. "Hey, c'mon, it ain't that bad…" He tried to reassure, getting between her and the amber piece.

Bara let off a sigh, turning her gaze down along her snout. "I didn't realise… I'm just… lost here." She rumbled.

Shifting into his own beast form her nudged her side, trying to get the winged Baryonyx up. "Let's go get you something to eat, and don't worry about it, it's a lot to take in. So how's…" He was cut off as a sound similar to rumbling thunder reached them, quickly pushing Bara back from the crossing they'd been about to go through, and just in time to avoid Emily streaking past, the red and green blur then cantering down the stairway at the end of the corridor at speeds which should of killed her if she fell.

The two exchanged a glance just as Razor then galloped by, the Spinoformer causing the two to almost lose their balance on the polished floor as he lumbered past, taking the stairs three a time after Emily.

Bara was the first to speak. "Follow?" She suggested.

Cliffjumper nodded, quickly following after Bara as they raced after the two larger members of the group.

After a few minutes, they found that everyone had converged in the living room, where Aurora was pacing in the large dip in the floor over all the pillows, cushions and large sheets.

Emily was the first to speak after recovering from her sprint. "Sis? Who shoved a hot poker up your ass?" She asked.

Aurora didn't respond with anything other than a low growl and her tail snapping round, only just missing a marble statue of what Cliffjumper guessed was a cluster of deformed circles.

After a few more paces she came to rest, hissing through her clenched denta. "You remember that spaceship we found in the Gobi desert when were where helping that merchant train during that sandstorm?" She hissed out.

Razor nodded. "Yeah… that was… what? 7-8 hundred years ago?"

Cliffjumper and Bara exchanged a look before Cliffjumper spoke up. "Were there any survivors?"

At his question, the rest of the group turned to look to him, forlorn was the emotion he picked up from their expressions as Sonic shook his helm.

"It's a plague ship, they were dead before they even arrived on Earth, they were all suffers of Cybonic Plague. Liara stopped us from going in there; the virus was still active, and my guess? Still is even now, and seeing how we couldn't even risk touching it, and the sand it was buried in was… well… Razor's never been good at controlling it, so all we could do was burry it under as much sand as we could, and leave it." He explained, a shiver seeming to go down him. "So much sand, uhh, I'm still finding flecks of it in my feathers." He then grumbled.

Cliffjumper nodded, understanding that the grey and blue mech would find something like a desert, irritating. "Why are you bringing it up now? Why so riled up?"

His response wasn't verbal, instead it was the blue predacon before him taking in a deep, sharp vent, and exhaling even quicker, blowing hot blue embers from the gaps between her jaws.

All of them quickly shuffled back a bit as she seemed to lose it, her long neck beginning to sway for side to side, the shuffle quickly became a scamper when her optics slid shut for a moment before snapping back open, the vibrant blues which normally filled them gone and replaced with a pitch black orbs, with single tiny white spots at the centres, before his very optics, she reared up, transforming into her Titan form as large blue flashes seemed to occur from under her thick scaling, her jaws snapped open wide once, and then twice, as the two halves split again, revealing even more hidden teeth, before she released a terrifying, ground shaking bellow.

It didn't get any further, as Emily suddenly released a startled cry as Soundwave seemed to leap from the red and green femmes fore helm, kicking her in the face and using her as a spring board to send her crashing into the larger blue Titan femme.

The sudden impact sent the two crashing the ground, Aurora released a furious hiss, before locking up, eyes rolling backwards into her head and falling still on the floor.

Soundwave rose from where she'd grabbed her best friends four-way jaw, having forced it to close when she crashed into her. The grey and purple femmes cooling system labouring as she sighed and almost ripped her visor off. "Shit that was close." She hissed, turning and making her way over to Emily, where Razor and Bara where helping her up. "Sorry about that Em; that was kind of spur of the moment."

Emily chuckled brokenly at her, wiping the trail of energon coming from the side of her lipplates before spitting what was left onto the floor, revealing a large fang as the liquid spread out. "'t's okaa, nu har… don." Was all she got out before she slumped against Razor. "'ah go' un seri'os 'ick Ound." She gargled out.

Soundwave winced slightly at the clearly slurred voice as Emily stumbled over to her, and placed a servo dazedly on her shoulderplate, only for it to slip right off, but the attempt to reassure that there was no serious foul was understood.

Bara was the one to speak up, cutting Cliffjumper off as he himself had been about to ask what had just happened in the space of a few moments. "The heck?! What?! What happened to her?!" She exclaimed, waving with her right arm and pointing one of the large curved claws at the still motionless Titan.

They all exchanged looks before Rya answered. "Ro… very nearly went Primal… Which means that… my guess, that ship is soon to be investigated by the Bots… a ship filled with the remains of a Cybonic Plague outbreak… and… guys… if she reacted like that?" She didn't seem to want to answer her own question.

Razor let of a distressed sigh as Emily shook her helm from left to right, deciding against speaking herself. "Optimus is going to get infected, and the only cure, is to let him die, and resurrect him…"

"…Not… true." Aurora groaned, having come too at that point, slowly placing one clawed foot underneath her so she could push herself upright albeit shakily, her claws slipping for traction and her entire form swaying from side to side like she couldn't properly find her centre of gravity to rest on, Emily, Razor and Soundwave were quickly moving to help her up. "There is a chemical cue, but only Megatron knows it, and he has it stored away in his own mind, and Bumblebee, will be going in via Cortical Psychic Patch." She declared, finally standing back to full height and shaking her head from side to side. "Sorry about that guys… It's just… if we screw up on this one…"

"You lose your dad." Rya stated, helm lowering slightly towards the ground.

That caught Cliffjumper's attention, reminding himself that at no point, had any of Aurora's siblings referred to Optimus as anything but, Ro's sire, Optimus or Prime. They didn't actually consider him their father, only Aurora's.

He could understand with Rya, what with her having Ignial as her father figure, but the rest of them had made no such comments either.

Bara banged into his side a little harder than a simple elbow jab to get his attention. "What'd she mean by going Primal?"

Aurora stepped over to them then. "A… Titan, like myself, and those that carry more than twenty five percent ZNA in their overall base coding, so everyone here basically, have a Primal form directly linked to their element, they are by-products of the control we have over those elements, and… when one of us… say, gets emotionally distressed beyond all reasoning, as I… allowed myself to there, will, no maybes, will begin the transformation into that state, and if the transformation is not diffused like Sound did for me just then… then I would've killed every single one of you, and, if I made it to the surface in that state, millions upon millions of lives from every species, would've suffered. When Ignial was assassinated, Rya went Primal… and Soundwave had to wipe the minds of the entire population of Britain, so they wouldn't remember what happened. The only positive side, is that when a Primal finally runs out of energy, all of the excess they generated is absorbed back, in Rya's case, that meant that everything which burned that day, grew back, like rewind had been pressed on reality, but… after a certain point in time, that doesn't happen Cliff, a Primal state will only reverse the damage done, if they are calmed within the hour…ish, after that, nothing will reverse, and we were able to stop Rya minutes before, but those she'd… stepped on... they were not reversed. They hadn't been damaged by her element." She mumbled, as she'd spoke, she'd moved over to where Rya stood frozen, helm turned towards the ground and fists clenched at her sides, slowly the blue Titan shifted down into her bipedal form, kneeling down she pulled the smallest member of the group into her arms, slowly Rya's own wrapped around her larger sister as she began to shake, sniffing and whimpering in her older sisters hold.

Cliffjumper acted on impulse, shifting into his own bipedal form and quickly hugging Rya from behind, his wings extending out and wrapping around both of the sisters without him even intending to, it just happened.

"It wasn't your fault Rya. It was never your fault." Aurora mumbled, nuzzling the side of her sister's helm with her own as she pulled out of Rya and Cliffjumper's grips, turning instead to Soundwave, who was currently examining Emily's jaw, more precisely the hole where her tooth had come from.

"A new one should replace it in about three months, I guess."

"Sound, you know what Liara's foresight means." Aurora stated, regarding the back of her best friends horned helm.

Soundwave responded with a sigh. "I have to go in there to keep the Scout safe. Into that mechs mind, the one I swore I'd never tread for fear of my own sanity."

Aurora nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder and pulling her against her side. "We'll all be cheering you on, and thanks for knocking me out there… it's just… the thought of him… father… getting sick? I… you know." She let go of the smaller Predacon femme and turned to leave. "I can't watch that… Even the thought is grinding my gears in all the wrong ways."

"What if I linked you with him?" Soundwave suddenly suggested, long slender clawed digits supporting her visorless chin.

Cliffjumper had never seen the blue femme turn so sharply, her tail very nearly taking Sonic out, the mech having quickly ducked to avoid the blade which almost sung as it flew just over his crest. "What?! Sound! That's too much strain!" She barked out, but the hitch in her voice was alarming, Aurora had no composure, she was thrown off her normally strong pedestal and it was painfully obvious to Cliffjumper then that the large blue femme was beyond the point of stress, she was borderline having another, what had that even really been? A panic attack? He wasn't sure, he just knew that at this point, Aurora was not her normal self, she'd lost her composure, and couldn't even produce the normal tone her lilting voice had. All of that combined made him seriously consider just telling Arcee where they were, letting Prime know where they were, because deep down her knew, that right now, she needed more than a quick link up like Soundwave was proposing.

Soundwave actually chuckled, a sound he'd personally never heard. "You doubt my abilities?" She inquired, one slim optic ridge rising in question, ignoring Aurora's distressed mannerisms, well ,Cliffjumper was 100% on that last part, but Soundwave's processor seemed to be elsewhere on her train of thought at present.

Aurora's response was to verbally flounder like a caught fish for a good twenty seconds. "…No." She finally got out. "I just… what if I slip up? What if I give away some crucial detail? I'm not some perfect wall which can stand up to him!" She continued to ramble, voice hitching, frame sifting from side to side, tail limp and claws twitching with every rapid and nonsensical gesture of her servos.

Soundwave frowned as Aurora clasped her servos around the top of her helm, being careful of her horns as she shook her head, the feathers which normally stood proud behind them lowered against the back of her neck cables and between her wings. "Do not tell me you're scared of him." The grey and purple highlighted femme growled out, having apparently pried into her friends mind. "You… are…"

Aurora's helm snapped up in response optics wide yet fearful. "No! I'm not scared of him! I just… I'm scared of what he'll think of me… I'm not the little hatchling that cooed and gurgled and tried to clamber all over him anymore… I'm a _sick_ , _twisted_ , _lying_ , _murdering_ _bastard_ who's holding one of his men captive!" She bellowed at the end, pointing wildly at Cliffjumper to prove her point, causing him to jolt at the accusation to herself which involved him. "How do you expect me to be able to even look into his optics and tell him that I'm his daughter!? She died eons ago during that massacre in Egypt! I've killed innocence! I've turned the tides of wars and failed to prevent massacres! I've turned a blind eye too many times! I've lost too many! I… Everything he stands for… I've failed to stand for… I… can't do it… I'm not his daughter… I'm just a useless waste of time… after all… I still can't work out why Auntie saved my egg… when there were nineteen others she could of saved… all of them would have been better choices than me! YET SHE CHOSE ME! THE FUCKING _RUNT_!" Coolant was beginning to flow from her optics by that point, her frame shaking as she continued on rambling before all out screaming at them. "I SHOULD BE FUCKING DEAD! I'M A _USELESS,_ _WEAK, RUNT_!"

Cliffjumper watched all of this frozen, as Razor walked up to her, and slapped her hard across the faceplates, his own features livid.

She actually went down, her frame instinctively shifting so she landed on her right side, preventing any more damage to her wings, but after that, she just laid out sprawled out on the floor starring at the darker grey border which ran along the bottom of the walls.

"Get a hold of yourself Ro!" Razor roared, reaching down and easily hefting her up by the front of her chassis, leaving her pedes dangling loosely underneath him, the four black claws on each pede just brushing the floor with their tips.

Cliffjumper had barely taken a step when Sonic seemed to almost teleport from the other side of the room, to just to his left, where the smaller mech gave him a light shove. "She's been knocked off balance by the near shift, this happens if Primal form is not taken when the bodies already readied itself for it, just let Razor do what he does best." He hissed into the larger mechs audio.

He nodded before looking over to his other side to see how Bara was reacting, seeing as she was the only other member of the group who hadn't seen this kind of stuff happen before.

Noticing his gaze she raised an optic ridge at him. "Don't look at me!" She hissed. "She basically said we were seconds away from getting killed a minute ago! Ain't you freaked out by that?!" She exclaimed, waving over to where Aurora was still hanging limp in her younger brother's grasp.

Now that she'd brought that point back up, he felt his own optics widen, Bara was right, had Soundwave not burst from Emily's fore helm, kicking the femme in the faceplates in the process, and somehow turned off the transformation, as Aurora had said herself, they would all of been the first casualties.

Not a comforting thought.

And he had a form like that… Arcee had a form like that…

Shaking his helm from his thoughts he turned back to watch as Razor stormed out of the room, still carrying Aurora in his extended servo, not sure if he was to follow.

After a moment he decided to stay, moving over to check over Emily himself to see if he could help with her partially dented in faceplates, her was a metal element after all, he should be able to help the crimson red and forest green femme somehow.

* * *

Razor stormed into Aurora's room, still carrying his sister in front of him, once he was in front of her pool, he simply let go, allowing her to plunge into the previously undisturbed liquid, disrupting the marine life which had been swimming around within as a cloud of bubbles formed around her.

With a sigh he moved to sit on the reclining sofa which he often found Aurora sitting on when she was thinking. "That's the seventh time since Optimus arrived on Earth Ro, it used to be once every few decades, not seven in a decade. You need to pull yourself together." He spoke, staring at the waves.

He knew she could hear him, unlike to the rest of them, water didn't clog her audios, allowing her to hear him as clearly as if they were sitting on the sofa together.

Shaking his helm he moved to recline against the back of the sofa. "I get it, I get that Titan's imprint for life, I get that that imprinting for a Titan is both ways, and I fully understand why this has you so scared, there is a chance he could offline from this, but remember, Liara's foresight has proved to all of us, that Optimus is still going to be online during the final stage. We just need to play whatever part we need to, and as long as Sound plays her cards right when she's in Megatrons helm, and they get the cure, he'll be fine… plus, he hasn't died yet, so that's a bonus I guess, you could just resurrect him like you did Cliff and Arcee." He continued, no response.

With another sigh he moved to lay on his side, shifting so that his sail wings weren't threatening to dice up the piece of furniture, his tail slowly passing over the floor behind him as the spikes of his hammer barely missed the tiles underneath. "Yeah I get it, if he's resurrected too early we might just have to reveal ourselves earlier, and if that happens, I know it'll be because of you Ro. You and your patience running out and you doing something incredibly stupid. Stupid by even your standards."

He almost felt smug when the waves within the pool suddenly became more violent.

"That's why you should let Sound link you to him whilst she's helping Bee out, she can handle the strain, and Ro, you're getting sloppy, you're getting too desperate to see him, and it's gonna put us at risk, you're doing too much at once too quickly, go to him, just talk, just see him, interact with him, he's your fragging father Ro, this'll be your chance to see him, and for him to see you, he's just as torn up over this as you Ro, you know that, I know that, Liara knows that and she can only stay in reality for what? Four minutes? Ro, just listen ok, this is your only chance to prove to yourself that you can stay in control, if you don't do this, it'll only get worse, you're judging yourself, berating yourself, you're turning on yourself, just try this, and I pray you see what I'm talking about." He finally finished, starring up at the ceiling. Ignial had painted it, with him and a blackmailed Uri holding onto the ropes which were wrapped around him, and the complex pulley system he'd designed so that he could be moved across the ceiling without the need of scaffolding. The design itself was a cacophony of colours, different marine animals depicted like tribal markings, coloured vibrantly and all linked in some way to the massive seaserpent which lay proud in the centre, releasing a triumphant and silent bellow to the heavens, the flat ceiling looked like a dome because of it.

There was silence for a good five minutes as the water of the pool stilled entirely, not even lapping the edges, like it had frozen over entirely.

Finally though, the surface broke, as Aurora half hefted herself up against the side, a downcast smile on her faceplates. "You sure do love doing that." She mumbled.

A single grunt was his first answer as he simply rolled off the sofa before pushing himself upright from the floor with a single shove from his powerful arms. "Only 'cause you need it, I swear Ro, it ain't fun being the one who has to pull you together." He grumbled, leaning down and taking her upper arm in servo and hoisting her up so that she could stand properly herself.

Aurora responded with a bark of laughter and an almost harsh slap on the shoulder. "Rya would slap me in the face and tell me to grow up, Em would try and feed me something which even I couldn't stomach, Sonic wouldn't even bother trying, and Ur…"

"Uri would try and take your helm off." He finished for her, seeing her hesitation.

Aurora nodded, allowing herself to fall to the tiled floor in a cross legged position. "For all her tendencies, I miss her… She gave life an edge." She mumbled; arms wrapping around her middle as her tail moved round so that the scythe like tip flopped onto her lap with a light clang.

Razor nodded, slowly sitting himself down on her right side, both starring at the wall which Uri had mowed down more times than any of them could remember as she chased Ignial and Rya through the corridors.

Ignial had continued to sleep on the ceiling after she'd vanished, never getting used to her not crashing through, leaving his bed for the most part untouched, until he himself had been murdered.

"We'll find her someday Ro, there's only so many places Uri could of gone… but, this is Uri we're talking about… and Sonic couldn't find her… No!" The sudden shout at the end jolted Aurora, almost sending her reeling back into the pool by accident had she not braced herself on the edge to support herself as her tail snapped around her brothers middle and held taught. "We can't live in the past anymore! None of us can! It's only making it harder to control ourselves!" He growled, dentas clashing together as his tail swung round, unfortunately, Aurora had not been quick enough to avoid it.

With a startled squawk she was knocked back into the pool, but quickly reemerged to shoot her younger brother a glare. "Hypocrite."

Razor shrugged, bending down again to help hoist her back up again. "Sorry, my thoughts went back to…"

"Zeria." Aurora finished, Razor just ducked his helm, seeing this Aurora let off a sigh and rubbed his large shoulder plate with her servo, carefully avoiding the optic of the upper half of his beast form's helm which rested on that shoulder. "I know its hard Ray, she was one hell of a woman… but that was over four hundred years ago… You have to stop beating yourself up over it." She tried to reassure, honestly not sure if she was doing it right, she tried, but she knew that she did sometimes muff up her attempts.

Razor nodded slowly in response, tilting his helm up enough to lock optics, before grabbing her and pulling her into a crushing hug. "Only if you do the same and link with Optimus."

Aurora let off a breathless. "O…K… Need to…. Breathe!" She finally rasped out, banging her servo against his chassis a few times as her gills flared, trying to take in even more air when it was her air pipe which was actually being blocked.

He quickly let go, letting her stumble back a step as he rubbed the side of his helm with his servo. "Sorry sis… sometimes forget I can bend you into a Prestel!" He paused for a moment before rubbing his chassis. "Oh slag… Now I got myself hungry… see yah in a few Ro! Furnace is calling for a refill!" He was already down the corridor before he finished.

Aurora's shoulders slumped as she witness the dust trails left behind dissipated. "I still can't figure out how he can make himself look like a cartoon when he's hungry. DON'T MAKE ANYTHING TOO DISGUSTING! WE ALREADY HAVE ONE TERRIBLE COOK!" She then shouted, hoping he heard her in time to prevent him from making some monstrosity which would make her want to bring up whatever was currently in orbit around her own furnace.

"HEY! I ain't that bad a cook!" Emily shouted, helm appearing in the doorway, faceplates surprisingly back to normal.

"Err… that was a quick heal? You finally mastered that skill?" Last time she'd tried to heal herself, she'd ended up stuck to a neighboring wall.

Emily glared at her. "No changing the subject! And yeah! And look! Cliff made me a new tooth until the new one pushes it out!" She exclaimed, using four digits to pry her mouthplates open to show inside.

Aurora quickly covered her olfactory sensors, which sat just behind the plates which came over the sides of her faceplates. "Ancients! What did you just eat?!" She exclaimed.

"Four cans of spam!" Emily responded tauntingly, letting her breath waft towards her sister. "Uncooked at that!"

Oh she was going to throw up again. Drawing a sphere of water from her pool, she quickly sent it flying after her red and green non-biological twin, elating a surprised squawk from her as she tried to flee the sphere, only to find it taking a corner and following right after her as she bolted down the corridor, until finally giving an irritated cry from somewhere within the Palace as the sphere finally made contact and exploded on her.

Shaking her helm she made her way back out of her room, making her way towards the Hatchery.

When she arrived, she found Soundwave curled around her two eggs, one optic open as the blue orb locked with her form. "You decided?" She enquired.

Aurora nodded. "I'll wait here with you until it's time… I need some grounding still… less than ten minutes till he catches the virus." She sighed as she slid down into the nest so she could lie against the padded side. "I wanna see him… talk to him… tell him myself… face to face… that I'm still alive." She mumbled.

"With all the stunts you've pulled, the data pad and that frolic in Russia, I think he's figured that out." Soundwave responded, but her twin tails still moved over to rest over the blue femmes lap in a sign of support.

Aurora let out a strained laugh. "Like Razor said, now I'm paraphrasing but, I need to keep my composure, I hope seeing him, will calm my actions down a bit… hopefully." She responded, letting her helm roll back till the horns clanged against the floor.

Soundwave rolled her optics but still nodded as she lifted her helm fully off the padded base of the nest. "You still have a few hours until then."

"Yeah… why I came here… when it's time, wake me up ok?" Before Soundwave could answer, she was already out cold.

"Well, at least she doesn't have insomnia."

* * *

Megatron's Subconcious

Soundwave let out a long breath as she watched the Autobot scout Bumblebee approach, the young mech looking around at his surroundings as he tried to take everything in as well as letting those back at base see as well.

She didn't look like herself, instead she'd altered her appearance so she looked more like a purple cloud of gas, which had taken a humanoid form.

All she had to do, was make contact, and lead the way to where Megatron himself continued to act out his sick enjoyment.

Already she hated it here, the scout had been lucky not to find what she already had.

Finally he was close enough, slowly she slipped out from her hiding space, and came to rest before the scout, who in response drew his weapon.

Not that they would do any good against her, this was her realm after all.

"Hello young scout, and those watching." She addressed.

 **"** **Who are you? What are you?"** The yellow and mech buzzed.

She bowed to them. "Jouulaunderiousava is my name, but those who know me simply call me Jouan, and the governess of the subconscious." She introduced, bowing to them. "I am here to help you locate the cure, which Megatron holds."

He paused for a few moments in place before responding. **"Arcee wants to know, are you linked to the other robed figures?"**

She nodded her head shaped protrusion. "Yes, 'Blue Robe' as Arcee refers to her as in her own thoughts, is my good friend, by the name Sionvalusian, I guess one would say we have been through a lot together, even though, I only met her in person the for first time, a decade or so ago, around the time you and the Decepticons arrived. I assume you wish to see my true physical form? I will give you one, but it is not the one I resemble." The conversation was one sided, she was aware, but she was just as in tune with their thoughts here as she was in the real world.

Before there could be a response, the gas shifted into a more solid mass as she floated closer, just to taunt them though, instead of forming a humanoid form, she took on something a bit more 'animalistic'.

Bumblebee's optics cycled a few times as he took in the smug looking Cyber fox as it looked back at him with curious blue optics. "Told you I would not look like my true form, now, we have wasted enough time with introductions, for Prime to survive; I must get you to Megatron, this way!" She called before scampering towards the Central Hub, the focal point of the warlord's mind where she sensed his presence coming from.

Bumblebee shook his helm before quickly following after the surprisingly quick Cyber fox, having to move at almost a trot to keep up with the orange, white and black creature as she continued on forwards.

'Ready Ro?' Soundwave called out, getting a simple image of an emoji nodding its head to her in response. 'Don't you dare start trying to follow trends on me', a winking emoji followed, making her wish she was still at the hatchery so that she could use one of her tails to whack the suddenly smart aleck Titan.

Hopefully though, Aurora would be able to keep it together.

With a flash of her optics, she started the link.

* * *

Optimus' Subconscious

Optimus sighed as he leaned back against the recliner chair he was sitting in, watching as his daughter slumbered in his lap, the tiny creature warbling and chirping as she squirmed in her rest, claws weakly gripping the seams of his armour as her mouth hung open slightly, revealing the already prominent fangs she had.

The world around the two didn't exist, it was just the two of them, him reclining in his chair, peering down at his adopted hatchling with an unending level of pride, as she continued to sleep in his lap, everything beyond was just a void.

Because he was completely content, he didn't need anything else.

From behind, Aurora crept ever closer, one slow step after the other, shifting her large form as quietly as she could, not wanting to make a sound… why? She wasn't sure, she just wanted to talk to him.

But the coil which tightened with every step closer, was making her hesitate.

But… there was so much she wanted to say… so much had happened, so many friends and enemies she'd made, how she was safe… how she was so happy to see him.

Her claw slipped slightly more then she'd hoped, the quiet scrapping causing the hatchling version of herself to twitch slightly in her sleep, horns bouncing lightly off one another, before her wide blue eyes fluttered open, her small head raising off her crossed paws and releasing a quiet yawn, tongue rolling out the side of her mouth as she blearily blinked up at him.

 _"_ _Pappa!"_ She chirped up at him, she remembered this, it was about an orn before she was evacuated.

He smiled down at her, rubbing his servo along the side of her head, rubbing the small spikes which would one day form the impressive crown of random horns she was now adorned with.

She flapped her small… not yet developed… intact… wings as she tried to clamber higher up on him, stumbling once when he claws didn't quite grip his armour right, but his servo was quickly there to catch her, supporting her as he helped her move to rest instead around his nackcables, curling around him with her tail dangling off the front of his chassis and her head tucked under his chin, letting off a slow purr.

Aurora crept closer still, but the coil was growing larger, her steps were slowing as she took in the scene with wide blue eyes, shifting her head slowly from side to side slowly so not to make a sound, but that meant that they passed through her blind spot, she didn't want only one eye to see him.

He still hadn't noticed her, she was just outside the glowing white space which the chair, her father and the figment of her former life rested, the two content as father gently stroked his daughter's side.

Her head was lowered low to the ground, legs bent at the joint to which her chest was almost scraping the ground, her tail barely moving as the tip barely avoided the surface.

Her right longest claw was just a moment from the light when it froze, her whole body locking up as Optimus shifted, leaning back further as he stared outwards in front of him.

"One day… one day I shall find you again, my young, precious, daughter… then, we can be a family again, just the two of us…"

Those words… Her wide eyes slid shut, her head curling back until her chin almost brushed the armour of her underbelly, straining not to make a sound.

And thoughts began to run rampant.

She wasn't young anymore… she was less than five months from turning 18, in human terms, she was almost an adult…

How could she be precious? That was a term used to describe something with great value, but she'd been so tainted… her claws where chipped from the thousands of times they had met the blades of those she then ended moments later, her hide scarred and scratched, her wings flightless, her tail partially numb from the abuse it had received from far too many things to list… her spine, the part the catapult round had removed from her, leaving that significant divot which should of left her permanently paralysed.

It wasn't just the two of them… There was Emily, Razor, Sonic, Rya, Bara, Harp, Soundwave, the latter's un-hatched young, they were all her family, and would Optimus accept her? Them? Would he accept the fact that Liara had raised her? Had taken his role of tutor and comfort giver, and done it herself?

Would he even love her like his child again… if he knew what she'd done? What her people had done? What her mother and brother had done? What she had been fated to do before her own birth?

No, he wouldn't, she was but a flightless Titan, one too weak to avoid such a crippling injury, one too weak to simply take the world she lived upon and rule over it with the power she wielded out and in full display.

If she was like that, he would hate her.

And she'd almost done that very thing so many times.

She was a runt, always had been, always would, had she hatched... she would of either been sold off... or eaten...

Who would honestly want her just for herself? She was only alive because Liara had foreseen her future... all that time ago... and stolen her egg.

 _"_ _I'll always be there daddy, you don't need to find me… I don't ever want to leave."_

 _She_ had been the one to press the button which sent her jettisoning towards the stars, _he_ didn't, and _she'd_ left him… _she'd abandoned him_ ; _she'd broken her own promise to stay with him…_

Salty droplets pooled from her eyes, her heads position meaning the large droplets flowed off the ridges which guarded the top of her head, her jaws locked together as her gills sealed tight and nostrils flared.

"Rest now young one, my little shining light, one day I will hold you again, and until then, know I will love you till end of eternity, you gave me a chance to be a father, something I had before you're hatching, feared impossible."

"You won't love me." She mumbled to herself, not realising he'd heard, and his helm was slowly turning towards her. "Not when you learn what I've become." It was a barely discernable hiss now, forced between the gaps of her jaws caused by the irregularity of the fangs within.

His optics locked on the dark blue outline which existed within the darkness that surrounded himself and the figment of his child, the form seeming to shake, or was it rippling? But the voice was so strained, so agonised, he slowly rose, not noticing the tiny hatchling fade from reality along with the chair, but the light still remained.

"A…Aurora?" His voice was so hopeful… she was going to break that hope if she stayed, should would destroy the image he had of her, make it all so, so worse. She couldn't stay.

Her front half reared up of the ground, maw falling open like a spring had snapped, an agonised screech to the heavens that did not rest above followed, twisting round so that, at one point, she looked almost like a rearing stallion, rising against something which had startled it, her flaring wings, the startled rider falling from her, and the moment her front paws hit the surface and claws gripped the ground, she ran, cracks forming underneath her as her heavy and fast paced steps began to be too much for the dreamscape to handle, shaking the ground and throwing the unstable reality out of whack as it tried to generate the correct sound of her thunderous impacts.

"I'm sorry!" She cried out, not realising she'd accelerated to the point in which her cry was unheard, the distance between them already too great.

Optimus stood frozen in place, starring at the place she'd been, it had to of been her, it was his only explanation.

The cracks she'd left behind shone white in the darkness, turning to black as they appeared within the ring of light he still stood in, not watching the cracks, but instead the spot where she'd reared up, and revealed her scared body, her form had lit up for a single moment, and his processor was forcing it to the forefront of his mind.

So many wounds… all of them leaking thin silver trails… the river which flowed from her closed eye, the broken horns and tattered feathers, her wings completely severed and breaking apart at the edges…

And her scream… the sound rung in his audios, unwavering and roaring at a volume even greater than the one she'd produced.

"I… I should never have let you go… how… how I can ever make it up to you… I fear I will never know… What have I done?" He whispered, praying for this suddenly painful dream to end and release him from its clutches.

* * *

Megatron's subconscious

"Enough of this toying femme!" Megatron roared, glaring up at the large dire wolf like creature which hovered above him, straining against the glowing pale purple bonds which ensnared his frame.

Bumblebee and by video link all the bots at Omega Outpost one were frozen as they watched Soundwave float slowly just above the Warlords helm, her claws scraping the top of his helm every so often as she smirked down at him, the thick pale grey fur with dark purple markings ruffling in a non-existent breeze, she'd shifted without their notice, and had pounced, trapping the warlord as she seemed to plunge her front paws into his helm, which had drawn a muffled grunt of heavy discomfort before he'd even became aware of the Scouts presence.

"Oh Megatron, I can toy with you all I wish…" She rumbled out, tail running under his jaw mockingly as she regarded him with a coy look. "I do it enough with your pawns as it is… And besides, I'm buying time for a friend, I already pulled the cure from that helm of yours, and sent it directly to the Autobot's main computer." She revealed, she really had to do this more often, but, she was also well aware of what had happened with Aurora, and she knew that her friend would need to be comforted soon, her state was quickly slipping, she turned to Bumblebee then, knowing it was time, and internally regretting what she was about to let happen. "You can detach Bumblebee now, I'll keep him occupied as long as I can… but he's getting a bit hard to handle!" Unbeknownst the Autobots and the Warlord, Soundwave was struggling to keep herself in two places at once, now that she was also having to make her way to the Con medbay with Knockout and Starscream, and in that form, barely holding herself back from strangling the egotistical, mate killing seeker.

He was still standing there for a moment longer, preparing to disconnect, and in that moment, Megatron broke free from her weakening bonds, servo snapping up in an attempt to catch her, and that was when they disconnected, and she activated the self-destruction of the dream plane they were in, resulting in its collapse, her blue eyes glowing a bright purple as the world around them shattered like glass, and began disintegrating into dust... leaving the warlord falling through the air without control, roaring obscenities at her she hadn't heard since her time in the Pits of Kaon.

Megatron quickly caught onto this, and lunged at Bumblebee who was beginning to fade away now himself "Take me with you!" The gunmetal grey mech bellowed, reaching out as he too disappeared. "TAKE ME!"

Soundwave had to let him traverse to the Scouts mind plane, she had to for the plan to progress.

She quickly made her own exit, allowing herself to fully focus on the task ahead in the real world.

* * *

Hatchery

Aurora shook as she gripped the side of the nest, claws puncturing holes into the marble surrounding it, as she cried into the cold surface, her armour and wings rattling slightly, causing the hatchery to be filled with a mixture of sobs and clanking platting.

Slowly, Harp slid away from her place wrapped around Aurora's wings, the Harpagornis femme taking on her bipedal form, her weary servos slowly pried Aurora's far larger helm from the floor, her own helm tilting down as her wise faded blue optics followed the silver molten trails which ran over the Titan femmes faceplates, no words were needed to be said as her arms slowly brought the far larger femmes helm to rest in her now crossed pedes, servos sliding slowly over the painted blue ribbons and scuffed grey surfaces of her twisted horns in an attempt to soothe her daughter.

At one point, many hours later, Razor peered in only for a few moments, and long enough for Harp to shake her helm at the far younger mech, he stepped back, so quietly the steps were barely heard. Soundwave had also made an appearance, but had hesitated to do more than run a servo down her back for a few minutes before she was called back to the Nemesis prematurely.

Aurora had already fallen into recharge by that point, her Titan form now wrapped tight around the elder, her wings laying oddly across the surface with neither Harp or liquid to brace them in slumber, they would need extra work over the following days to make up from the positions they were now in.

Cliffjumper peered through some time later, but ignored Harp's glare as he walked over, drawing the lightly slumbering femme back into wakeness, but even then she was barely conscious, streams of the silvery liquid half dried on her features.

Knealing down in front of the two he reached out and placed a servo on the shoulder which faced upwards.

He gave her the most reassuring smile he could muster. "Firstly seeing as you broached the topic, why would I be held captive, when I want to be here, Ro, as crazy as this place is sometimes, and that I do wish I was with my intended, I know this is where I'm meant to be, we all need each other to be there for us as a group, so, will you stop thinking I don't want to be here? You're a good kid Ro, don't forget that, Optimus would be proud of you… once he knows what's happened, and all you've done for this world, 'cause I know, that the things you've done for all the living creatures of this world, far outweigh the mistakes you've made, I'm sure he'll understand, he's that kind of mech, and, your his kid, he never gave up on looking for you since we arrived on Earth. Yo an good fem Ro, I can see it by just looking into your optics." As he finished her optics finally slid open, revealing the wide blue slits which stared back at him before a sad smile bloomed on her features. She went to respond, but Harp ran one of her thin servos down Aurora's helm, ghosting over the horns, the gesture causing the larger and younger femmes optics to slide back shut.

"Rest now child, rest, and dream of better times."

Cliffjumper took that as his cue, rising back to his full height, he left the Hatchery, glancing at the two eggs in the nest once before finally leaving the room, leaving the inhabitants to their rest.

* * *

 **And done! Emotions were kinda flying in this one, again, sorry for the long delay, also, current events have put in quite the off mood... namely my homelands decision which is likely on a lot of front pages today... anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it was fun for me to write, and hopefully I'll get around to updating this one more frequently than I have been, again, sorry for that.**

 **Well, until next time... anyone got anything to say?**

 **...**

 **Right, ok, until next time! See yah!**

 **Moon**


	16. Always something new happening

**Ok, next chapter, thought I'd put this out now because I really need to get posting again, lot of stuffs been going on in the background which have really slowed down my ability to work. Which I apologise greatly for. But enough of that, the usual disclaimers still stand, all but Bara of the original Oc's belong to me, Bara is owned by Autobot-Metallah24. All other characters are owned by Hasbro, so, without further adieu, the chapter! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 16

Cliffjumper huffed as he paced along the walls of the large training room, his cables taut as he glared at the walls and floors around him, his forked tail swinging dangerously behind him as a thin plume of red tinted smoke fluttered from the Predacons flaring olfactory sensors.

The reason for his agitation was the revelation that Soundwave had allowed Megatron's subconscious to migrate into Bumblebee's own, Bumblebee, the youngest of their kind left.

The thought caused a sudden change in direction of his thoughts.

He wasn't one of their kind anymore, he was a Predacon, not a Cybertronian mech…

"Cliffjumper? What's got you so riled up?"

His helm snapped round as his optics locked on Razor, the mech stood in his beast form, forearms resting on the ground on his knuckles as his large crocodilian helm tilted to one side, his left optic becoming more visible with the shift.

Behind him, Bara stood, huddling out of sight almost, an odd behaviour, which was only increased when Razor shifted minutely, but still enough to block the smaller Peiscivore from his view, her left pede the only thing now visible.

Razor himself wasn't sure what he should do next, Cliffjumper was clearly more agitated then they'd seen previously, and he didn't need Bara getting spooked, he'd been surprised to find she was actually quite flighty in nature, not one to stand her ground, but he understood her reasoning, she'd only been alive for less than a week, and was still getting used to everything. He'd been affected by Cybertronian youngling hood behaviours when he was resurrected with his siblings, so he was able to roll with things a lot easier than a adolescent female like Bara when her previous life still held the vast majority of her memories.

He watched wearily as Cliffjumper's frame lowered closer to the ground, optics narrowing as the slits of his optics seemed to contract tighter, the charger class's armour rattling slightly as his helm lowered closer to the ground, muscles taught as his wings flared out slightly and shaking.

He was challenging him.

Looking closer Razor quickly realised that Cliffjumper had slipped into a more Predacon state of mind, optic slits narrowed to the thinnest of points, fangs bared and a glow building in the back of his throat was clearly visible.

He took a step backwards, bumping Bara with his flank to tell her to move, she quickly responded having detected the hostility herself. "Go get Ro." Razor quickly whispered, nudging her once again to get his point across.

Bara nodded, quickly turning and running towards the West wing, hoping to find the blue Titan before things escalated too far.

Razor lowered himself slightly towards the ground, forearms leaving the ground and spreading out and putting his massive claws on display, hoping a show of strength and size would deter the mech currently running on instinct over logic.

It didn't work the way he hoped though, as in response, the red and silver Predacon released a thunderous bellow, followed by a burst of hot red flame.

Thankfully he was able to spin in time, using the momentum to signal an earth wall to form in front of him, acting as a shield and deflecting the intense flames outwards, scorching the ceiling and walls around him and leaving the larger mech unscathed despite the brutal force of the blast.

The rock wall then shook, having suffered from a harsh impact delievered by the ridges of Cliffjumper's helm, leaving a spider web like fracture on Razor's side of the wall, the larger, younger, green and blue mech snarled, preparing for potentially a very taxing fight to try and keep damage to as much of a minimum as possible.

Bara could hear the sounds of the quickly escalating fight even over her clamorous pede steps, skidding round corridor after corridor, but as she tried to pick up more speed, all whilst trying to sense where Aurora was with the pressure sensors at the end of her snout, she realised her target wasn't in the palace.

"Oh c'mon Aurora… where are you!"

* * *

Qylatia

The blaring music from the main area was a near silenced rhythm within the private suite which sat on the top floor of the VIP dance club 'Pardema', which in turn sat imbedded into the outer wall of the city, the panoramic view the suite provided giving an awe inspiring view of the city, all alight with bright lights and glowing crystalline buildings as the fire ball which lit the expansive cavern sat entombed within clouds of such a density, that no light could possibly shine through, allowing the glow of thousands of energon crystals, and over bioluminescent sources to light the sides, like a miniature galaxy.

The room was predominately black marble and obsidian, only lit buy a few small blue crystal lights which sat dotted around the luxury apartment like room, the light dimmed down even then.

Aurora was currently sitting in her dragonic human form, head resting in her hands with her dark blue, with lighter blue highlighted and lowlighted hair falling like a curtain around her, obscuring her view of the other three in the room.

She'd just finished explaining what had happened during the attempted contact with her sire, and once again her emotions where raging up a storm.

The first to speak was the second oldest of the three females, Lioneaza, the former Blackette had long since bleached and dyed her short pixie cut to a myriad of different blues. Her attire was a mix of similar colours, with a silver sash wrapped tightly wrapped around her middle. "You choked." She stated, crossing her arms over her front and shooting the blue Titan a glare, only to wince when the one next to her elbowed her in the middle.

Azania shot Lioneaza a glare. "Oh hush now, how would you act in that situation huh? Look, Ro, it's okay to be upset about what happened, but you shouldn't beat yourself up over it, these things take time, and maybe, it just wasn't time yet, have faith in the bond that you and your father share, it's not something easily broken." The white and black haired woman tried to reassure, wrapping her arm around the bent over Titan's shoulders. "We're here for you, me Ohiris and Lioneaza, and your family too, we'll all work through this together. Well… we'll help as much as we can when you come to visit at least." She tried to reassure, shifting to pull the large piece of fabric attached to her right arm back into place from where the bands holding it to her forearm had slipped slightly.

The final member of the group nodded her head in agreement, but was content with taking another sip from the sparkling beverage she'd brought up from the bar, the rich mango and strawberry flavour occupying the majority of her thoughts.

At least until Lioneaza nudged her side. "Surprised you're even here on your own devices Ohiris. Normally we have to drag you out of your house down in Cavern Seven with you screaming loud enough to be heard in the Sydney Oprah house." She joked.

Ohiris huffed into her drink, causing bubbles larger than the rest to form before she parted the crystal cocktail from her lips, the twenty two year old shooting the twenty one year old a look as she pushed one of her bright, almost white, blue bangs behind her ear. "Harp contacted me and told me we were all meeting up here, and I decided better of you dragging me here in my swimwear again." She responded.

Azania shot her an apologetic look as she helped push Aurora back against the three quarter circle sofa they were all sitting on. "Sorry about that again, but you know how spur of the moment my sisters can be when it comes to surprising everyone on mine and my twins birthday."

Lioneaza snorted, reaching for the spread of small snacks which sat so far untouched on the round table in front of them, after a moment of indecision she grabbed up a large shrimp and popped it into her mouth before leaning back and turning her head back to where Ohiris was sitting and took in her attire. "Ohiris, you're swimwear is less revealing, than that. And Azania? Your siblings are terrors, even that ice block twin of yours." She commented, gesturing to the piece of dense royal blue fabric wrapped around Ohiris' back, across her breasts and tied together behind her neck, and then to the mid-thigh length skirt which was split on both sides to the mid-point of the garment, Azania didn't respond verbally to the second part of her statement, instead giving her a light whack over the back of the head to Lioneza in reprimand for making fun of her younger siblings and twin, all eleven of them.

Ohiris shrugged. "Cavern 7 is second closest to the core of this world, and is a tropical paradise, with only a primarily jungle island surrounded by water, Lioneza, if I wore more I'd collapse from overheating, and, they're easy to change into after finishing my daily swim." She responded with a shrug.

Lioneza huffed. "You know how much I don't do water." She responded, visibly shuddering as her amber eyes took in the three.

Ohiris gave a short laugh. "Lioneza, if it wasn't for how much you cared about your hygiene, you'd not even set foot in a shower!" She barked back.

Aurora sighed as she watched the two women continue to bicker, she was, technically the youngest of the four, but the way they acted sometimes, showed that she was still the most mature member of the group, although Azania was pulling a close second of those present, her twin the only one who trumped the white and blackette, Ohiris was too laid back, and Lioneza had grown up in a family of crazy hyperactive people, of which she was the most controlled, most of the time… you don't live in a family like hers your whole life and not come out unscathed, the amount of times Lioneaza had literally kicked her larger fraternal twin Taznia out of the third story window, well, they'd all since lost count, and it was simply because said larger twin enjoyed using her smaller sister as a pillow that this event occurred, every single morning.

Azania and Lioneza where both from large families, Azania being the second oldest in a set of eleven siblings along with her identical twin, and Lioneza had her previously mentioned fraternal twin Taznia and younger adopted sister Farvena to keep track off, Ohiris was a first generation member of Qylatia, one Aurora herself had stumbled upon stranded in a thunderstorm off Hawaii seven years prior, the at the time fifteen year old had been fleeing by boat from her parents murderers, and upon hearing her tale, Aurora had taken her with her back down to the Caverns, namely Cavern Seven, after helping the then renamed Ohiris settle into Cavern Seven, she had continued to keep in contact with her, and in turn met her new friends Azania and Lioneza, now, whenever she visited Qylatia on her own for something, she would call a meet up, just to catch up, and it was on this occasion that the three had leapt at the chance to help her.

"You guys are amazing you know…" She mumbled out, regarding the three as the two bickering members of the group were cut off by her statement.

Azania's chest seemed to swell with pride. "We do our best, not many get the chance to be good friends with one of our nation's guardians after all, head guardian at that."

Lioneza nodded in agreement, reaching forwards to snatch another morsel of shrimp. "Hard to believe really, after seven years, it's still hard to believe."

Aurora snorted, allowing her eyes to roll at the comment. "Lioneza, I may be a Titan, and I may be a guardian of this place, but that doesn't mean I can live with my crazy family and have no other contact without going insane… I need the company of people outside my family sometimes too… not that that's reason we put the original Atlantians down here." She reminded.

Azania nodded. "I still remember the tales my grandma used to tell me, of how you blessed the Originals with your powers, and how those powers now flow through all of us in the form of our spirits." At the mention she brushed her pointer finger in an almost feather light touch over the black and white crystal embedded into the dark blue metal band which sat under her bangs and between her emerald green eyes and dark blue tinted glasses, the image of an eagle, wings spread wide and talons outstretched as if trying to break through the crystals surface sat proud within the gem.

Lioneza sighed. "My mother won't shut up about the Games coming up in five months, you should be up in the air by then right?" She asked gesturing to her currently wingless back.

Aurora nodded. "It's why the Otami games opening ceremony is even on that particular day, the closing ceremony is going to be my first launch, and my growth spurt." She answered.

Azania let off a low whistle. "Now that, will be a show, six kilometres right?" Aurora nodded in answer. "Damn, that's your kind for you, you guys never seen to stop getting bigger."

Aurora shrugged. "It has its downsides…" Before she could say anything else, the large oak wood door crashed open, revealing Sonic standing there, the currently humanoid Hatzegopterix looking like he'd just ran for three days straight, his silver hair, normally well kept was heavily ruffled, sticking up in places and a sheen of sweat and salt alerting the four females to the fact he'd probably come straight from Cavern Seven.

"Cliffjumper attacked Razor! Ro you need to get back to break it up!"

Aurora didn't even respond, just dived into what was left of Ohiris' drink, causing the woman to jolt slightly as her friend all but disappeared into the liquid without a signal notion of her intentions, also inadvertently splashing her in the face with the sparkling drink which she still held. "Err... rude much?" The response was all the liquid which had splashed her getting pulled back into the drink, leaving her completely dry.

Lioneza turned to regard the grey and blue decorated fourteen year old. "Never a dull moment at the palace hey… Sonson." She teased.

His response was a low hiss. "Don't you dare call me that."

Lioneza raised an eyebrow at the young male. "Oh? From what Ro's told us, that's what Uri used to call you, and you never complained then." She stated.

He didn't respond, instead he just turned and left the room, slamming the massive door behind him, just missing the long coattails of the storm cloud grey jacket he'd been wearing.

After a moment Ohiris reached over to Lioneza, and twisted her ear. "YYOOWWLL! What the hell Ohiris?!"

"Tact Lioneza, or should I say, Linoone?" Ohiris taunted back, dipping her head in a way to urge a response from the younger woman.

"Hey! Only my sisters can call me that!" Lioneza snapped back.

Azania's face split into a wide smile. "Now you know how Sonic feels then."

"Hey! No ganging up on me!"

* * *

Palace

Somehow Razor had succeeded in keeping Cliffjumper in one place, but that was hardly a major victory seeing as the now battle torn training room stood charred and cracked.

Cliffjumper released another below, lowering his helm and charging towards him like a stampeding bull.

Quick to react, the now bipedal Razor spun, bent back over himself, and grabbed the charging Predacons left horn, and yanked as hard as he dared, the force taking the red and silver Predacon right off the ground and instead flying into a wall, his back smashing into it, yet due to the way the training rooms were reinforced, they only buckled, but did not completely give way despite the thunderous bang which the impact caused.

" _ENOUGH_!" The shout echoed throughout the room, even Cliffjumper stilled from his movements as he'd been attempting to get up.

Aurora stood in the doorway, a look of disdain on her features as she stormed forwards in her smallest Titan form, but even then she dwarfed Cliffjumper, who shuffled back slightly, before Aurora's paw lifted up and roughly pushed him to the floor by the back of his neck. " _Still_." Her voice echoed again, even without her shouting, her presence alone seemed to of shifted as her eyes remained narrowed and cold. "I will not have such physical violence in my home! Explain yourself!" She commanded, almost yelling again as she pressed down slightly harder onto the back of the charger Predacons neck ridges.

He whimpered for a moment as Razor stepped back, blocking Rya who'd tried to rush forwards on impulse, but on meeting her brothers side and seeing what Aurora was doing, she stilled, vents catching in her neck cables as she watched what was to go down, and the now terrified look in her uncles optics.

Rya, Razor, Bara and Sonic watched on as Aurora pushed off the ground, her back legs remaining planted on the straining ground, she was only up that high for a few moments, before both of her front paws came slamming down on his shoulder joints, the armour groaning, yet somehow not buckling as she slammed him further into the ground, not a second later her head was directly in front of his, split all four ways and releasing an unholy screech right into his audios, the actions causing him to cease his movements altogether.

Slowly though, his optics shifted, cycling a few times before he snorted out a thick plume of red tinted smoke and shook his helm, the downwards facing horns grazing and scraping the floor in the process. "W…what just happened?" He groaned out, shifting his helm round to take in the room, before shifting more to try and shift the weight still pressed down on his from the Titan standing over him, he looked up at her once he'd taken in all in his viewing range, including the multitude of injuries which now littered Razor's frame from when he hadn't been quick enough to react to the Predacons faster actions. "Did… did I do this?"

Bara stepped into view then, going up to Razor's side and pressing herself against him after spotting how he was struggling to put weight on his left pede. "You went wild when Razor tried to talk to you…" She trailed off, but was all that Cliffjumper needed to know, helm and neck went slack along with the rest of his frame and he simply laid there on the floor, internally kicking himself for letting this new side of him rear up and take over.

With a sigh of her own Aurora pulled back, claws trailing over his neck for a moment before they were carrying her wait again on one of the few patches of intact flooring. "It is because of Megatron's current residence in Bumblebee, is it not?"

Cliffjumper let out a sigh. "The kids been through too much… now he has the mech who robbed him of his speech, festering in his own processor, that ain't right Aurora."

Her eyes softened as her large form lowered itself to the ground, her neck twisting round so that it faced opposite to the rest of her form, and her neck draped over the back of his. "All will be well soon Cliffjumper, a few days wait and he will be free of Megatron's clutches… but… it was my fault, I neglected to tell you what would happen to prevent you trying to stop this, I'm afraid that, for this war to end, Megatron must, ironically, live. He is a key driving force in our plan, and that key, will be used to open one of the many locks needed to open a very particular door… that is what Liara foresaw, even we do not yet all of her master plans."

The others watched on for a few more moments before they all slowly stepped out, Razor wincing as he had to apply more pressure onto his damaged right leg, which had been torn into by one of Clifjumpers bull like horns. "Shhhhiiitt." He groaned, shifting to take as much weight off the pained limb as possible without running the risk of toppling over.

Rya nudged his other side. "Looks like you have an appointment with Emily." Her tone was more sympathetic then teasing.

Razor shuddered. "I doubt you'll buy me wanting to go for a walk to clear my helm?"

Rya snorted. "I'm about as likely to buy something like that, as Sonson is of letting someone other than Uri touch his feathers."

Razor groaned. "Translation, I'm fucked."

Bara just watched on as the two interacted, slowly, and a bit clumsily, stretching her wing over to cover his sailwings and back strut as she continued to support the limping mech.

Back within the decimated training room, Cliffjumper shifted awkwardly, optics glancing around at the destroyed room, before landing on the still Titan who was now laying partially on top of him. "Sorry about all the damage Ro…"

Ro's eye slid open, the large blue orb looking over his own features as a small smile built up on her features. "It's fine Cliff, if Megatron had ended up in Sound's processor by mistake, I would've done something similar, if not even worse. The fatal flaw of my kind…" She shifted her form, shoulders raising up slightly, before they were forced back down by Harp, the aging femme seeming to wield enough strength to keep the larger blue Titan in place, when Aurora was in her organic form, Harp was much easier to spot, the metal Harpagornis based femme's metal glinting in the lights whilst Aurora's seemed to absorb it like a lizard sunning itself. There was also the fact that Harp's markings didn't match Aurora's own, which were much more spaced out and larger due to her overall larger size.

But her response also got him thinking. "You two really are close aren't you?" He asked, referring to Soundwave.

Aurora responded with a chuckle, maw opening to reveal the rows of teeth which seemed to alternate between conical and serrated sharks teeth, it was an odd assortment, but also one he had no intention of being on the receiving end of. Her visible eye closed as she continued to chuckle for a few more moments before slowly sliding open. "Yes… Although we can't decide what we are to one another, Aunt and Niece, or simply sisters, there is a distance which is unavoidable due to her part in all of this, but when we can, we just enjoy one another's company… still a bit miffed she didn't tell me she was carrying until the last month of gestation though." She added with a huff.

He nodded, feeling the metal of his lower jaw scrapping over some of the lose pieces of rubble. "So… what did you mean by the whole 'that is what Liara foresaw'?" He asked.

Aurora's head turned slightly, eye widening slightly as she seemed to process what he said. "Oh shit, we never told you did we? Damnit, we left you blindly following us and all for the last few months! Damn… How'd we forget to tell you?" She began to ramble, language seeming to shift into one that lost him at the first syllable.

"Err… What?" He asked.

Her eye snapped back open and she halted mid syllable before what he figured was a bashful expression came over the side of her head he could see, the down side of her eyes being on opposite sides of her head. "Oh sorry. …When I get irritated or my thoughts run away from me I begin rambling in my native tongue, it's a bad habit for anyone who can't speak the dialect." She admitted, before her eye drifted down to his flank, which was currently giving him significant grief from where Razor had slammed him into the wall.

Just further reinforcement that he shouldn't try to get the massive young mech mad. He was younger than even Bumblebee maturity wise, yet he had the strength and skills to easily rip him in two if it got that far.

"Looks like the metal was dented enough to puncture a line, come on, I need to get you to Emily so that she can look you over… then I need to get up to the hatchery to check on Sound's eggs for her." As she spoke, she was quickly raising herself back up onto all fours, neck leaving its place over his as she rose to her full height. "No need to upset Arcee tonight when Sound sends you over for a visit." She remarked, using her helm, primarily her ridge covered snout to help him stand upright, before her actual form moved him and bumped his undamaged side, a sign that she was happy to support him as they made their way towards Emily, what the red and green Titan could do to help him however, he wasn't quite sure.

But one thing he was sure of, Aurora had completely forgotten about telling him about what she'd said previously.

He was beginning to notice a pattern, easily distracted, forgetful, rambled on tangents which delved into subjects completely irrelevant.

He wasn't sure why, but the closer look he'd gotten of her upper head, which was normally out of view due to how high her neck held her, revealed the ridges there where actually quite banged up, as well as the base of her front horns.

He couldn't be certain if they were connected, so he decided to just stop thinking about it and focus on limping towards the greenhouse, using Aurora as a brace whenever he started feeling his four limbs shake.

* * *

Three hours later

Apparently, Titans with the nature element, were also natural healers, a bad pun if it even was one, but currently, Clifffjumper just didn't want to even try and stand, he was instead content on just laying where he was, on a bed of massive leaves which Emily had made with the help of three large plants which she'd sprouted pretty much right out of a gap in her armour for easy access, which she'd quickly plucked and set down for him beside Razor, who, until now, had been about as stimulating as a lump of steel, what with him sleeping, and snoring like a hibernating Grizzly chainsaw fusion.

Only half a minute ago though, he decided to wake back up, rolling onto his belly to face him on his own bed of leaves. "She treated you yet?" He asked, words slurred and surprisingly deep, likely from the fact that his optics where half slid shut and after speaking, his maw had opened to allow him a slow yawn as he used his left fore-limb to rub at his optic.

Cliffjumper nodded his helm, shifting uncomfortably as whatever flower power gunk Emily had put on his damaged side decided to start stinging again. It seemed to fluctuate, apparently not sure if it should stop stinging, or if it should make it worse.

Razor snorted. "Be thankful they're only external, you get sick? Run… hide in a place that no live grows, then pray she doesn't find you via Ant." He chuckled at the end. "Rya was sat in a live Volcano once, sick to the point of puking, and yet, Em still found her and dragged her kicking and honking all the way back!" He then added, before letting off a sigh. "It used to be Ig, he was our medic before… it happened… we went decades without one, Rya refused outright treatment from humans, in fact, none of us really like the idea of human medics, but, even after Em got dragged into all of this, we still had to go to Qylatia for medical check-ups, what with the surface being a no-go zone until only recently with odd exceptions." He rambled on, claws tapping the ground in a set rhythm, each one producing a different sound as the metal clanged against the red tile through the vegetation beds the two laid upon.

Cliffjumper starred at the mech for a moment, gauging the docile mech as much as he could, what with him currently in beast form, facial expressions being something which decreased heavily when anyone in this group was in them, save for Aurora and Emily, who's forms seemed adapt to facial expressions in both beast and bipedal forms. But it was more how Razor spoke that he was paying attention to. "What was Ignial to you?" He asked.

Razor snorted again, blowing green tinted smoke from his olfactory passages. "Where to start? He was the big brother to all of us, even Ro, what with him hitting eighteen when I was still the equivalent of a six year old… We all looked up to him, even Uri when she wasn't being… well… Uri… but anyway, you probably figured that Rya saw him more as her father… he was the first being to show her compassion, showing it before Ro could even open her maw… ha! Oh you should off seen the look on her face! Anyway, he was second only to Ro in our group, always the one to pull us back in line when we screwed up, but other than that, he was the most laid back of all of us… And one hell of a player…"

Cliffjumper felt something seize up inside him as his helm and neck jerked to regard the younger mech fully. "Razor, don't you dare tell me that…"

"That Ignail fucked every other woman he met? Had it not been for the fact he wasn't compatible with them on purpose, then there would be a lot more Human/Ignial hybrids running about on this planet." After a moment of starring at Cliffjumper's features, which had screwed up in a mix of confusion and uncomfortableness, Razor ended up nearly blowing a gasket from laughing so hard. "I-I'm no-not j-jokin-g!"

Cliffjumper's jaw was now hanging lose. "But…."

"He slowed down a bit when Rya got old enough to understand what he was doing, but during the first few centuries… Ancients, a Virgin woman was as rare to come across as a blue diamond." He shook his crocodilian helm from side to side. "Crazy son of a bitch… miracle in its own that I got to Zeria first…" His tone drifted off, as if stumbling on old memories, and seemingly quickly getting lost in them.

Deciding to divert the conversation, he said the first thing which came to his processor. "So, like music?" He asked, why he asked? He chalked it up to it being spur of the moment.

Razor halted in place before nodding. "We all do, it does wonders for ones sanity." He rumbled.

"Sanity?" Cliffjumper then asked, wondering what such a question would result in.

Razor gave a solemn nod. "It calms all of us to some degree, the right type of song being the variant factor. And it's just natural to listen to and play music for us, you've heard Ro in her music hall… Well…. She's not the only one who can play instruments that good." His tone changed to a smug one as his chassis seemed to puff up and the sail which ran down his back strut flared outwards, the metal supports stretching the blue membrane like metal which rose between them.

Cliffjumper nudged the larger mechs side with his right forelegs armour. "Well then Beethoven, what do you play?"

Razor snorted. "First off, Beethoven was a good friend of Ro and Ig, those three worked well off one another, Ro especially helped him with his odd desire to generate music as he sat in the bath. Never ran out of warm water that is. Second, well, I prefer handing out a nice rhythmic beat on drums, any kind any culture, as long as they're some kind of drums, I'm happy." He answered, sighing as his servos began subconsciously tapping out a new beat on the red tiles just in front of his bed.

Cliffjumper nodded. But before he could ask the larger mech any other questions, Emily strode back into view, Bara trailing behind her with her own tri colour optics darting around at every plant that hissed at her as she passed.

Emily was the first to speak. "Well you both seem to be on the mend if you're laughing like idiots. Hey Bara, thanks for helping with moving my brothers huge ass, I swear he's too heavy for me." She sighed, servos resting on her hipplates as she glanced at the femme behind her. "Speed Classes weren't bred for heavy lifting and all that crap."

Bara nodded, shifting slightly as she looked over at the two lying mechs, optics still darting worriedly around at all the plants which surrounded her. "H-happy to help… oh and, wanted to ask… How… exactly… do you transform into your bipedal forms?" She asked, running the sides of the two claws closest to one another on her fore limbs together.

There was a few moments of silence as the three other currently present regarded the awkwardly shifting Baryonyx. "It… it's just… I would've been able to help more if I'd had claws more suited for… grasping…" She explained.

Emily turned her helm slightly to see Razor. "Idiot." She huffed before walking over to the awkward pastel femme. "Okay, back into the Plane Hangar, we need some privacy for me to do this correctly with you." She stated, ushering the femme back the way they had come.

Razor let off a sigh, before slamming a clenched fist into the side of his helm. "How could I forget that?! Damnit." He grumbled, before rubbing the side of his helm his just hit. "Frag, I need to pull my punches more."

Cliffjumper raised an optic ridge at him. "Don't know your own strength?" He asked, taking in the pained look which the younger mech was successfully portraying, even when in his beast form.

Razor snorted. "Nope, every time I punch something, I know I can punch, slam, kick, bite it harder… I am a Strength class after all." He muttered.

Cliffjumper tilted his helm to the side. "And that means what exactly Emily just mentioned she was a 'Speed class'?"

Razor stilled for a moment before groaning and banging the underside of his helm onto the vegetation bed beneath. "…Fragging perfect, surprised Ro didn't explain it to you."

He shrugged. "Barely ever speak to her, and she seems pretty scatter brained, and I guess Rya thought she already had." He offered up with another shrug, wincing when his four way forked tail moved too much on its own ovation and pulled at a dented spot.

Razor shook his helm from where it remained on the leafy bed, "Yah too forgiving Cliff I swear." With a sigh he shifted again, finally reaching out and giving the mech a light punch to the shoulder joint, but even with its lightness, Cliffjumper still hissed slightly between clenched dentas.

Razor chuckled, shaking his helm again. "So, Classes… scrap I have no idea how to explain this, when we get off these beds, I try and convince Ro to explain it to you, now then… how's… life…wow…" He trailed off, having spotted something coming towards them.

Lifting his helm up over Razor's shoulder, he spotted what he was so distracted by.

Bara was standing there, Emily behind her as she pushed the slightly smaller femme forwards, she had a build similar to Razor's, likely do their species close link, but it was clear to the Predacon that she was undeniably a femme, but, like the rest of the femmes he'd been living with, none of them held his optic like his intended did.

After a moment though his own attention was brought back to Razor when the far young mech shook his helm and turned away, causing Bara to tilt her helm to the side in confusion slightly "What? Do I look strange or something?"

He blinked when he realized that her chest plates weren't covered. "Um, Bara you're missing something."

She looked down at herself in confusion. "What am I missing?"

Emily popped up from behind her with Spin-Spin in tow, and it became clear why she'd forgotten to make sure that Bara had her chest plates covered. "Oh shit I forgot about the chassis! Bara you're half naked!"

The bayonyx just cocked her helm. "Is that strange?"

Emily smacked herself in the forehead. "Oh hell… she's been naked her whole life so she doesn't understand the concept of wearing anything at all!"

"Well why would you want to wear extra in a place that's this hot?"

"Well we're in my greenhouse which is twenty five kilometers under the earth's crust, and the same amount towards the mantel, with one of Rya's fireballs bearing down on us, and you've been dead for sixty five million years. The concept of decency has changed, and it's gone from buck naked, hiding and covered in mud, to at least keeping the sexual organs covered! Well when out in most public places, it's even less when you're on the beach, or at a swimming pool…"

"Ok I think she gets the point Em." Razor sighed.

"No I really don't. I'd rather be naked." With that she started stripping the purple and blue pastel colored armor off.

"No Bara keep that on!" Emily snapped at her from her towering height over the other femme, hands quickly grabbing the discarded pieces of armor to attempt sticking them back on.

"No I don't want to wear it! It's too hot!" Bara snapped back.

By now he and Razor were watching what was happening with wide optics. They probably shouldn't be, and he was mostly doing it because it was somewhat entertaining, not that he had any idea if that was the real reason Razor was still watching though. Hey he was a young mech, and Bara was a young femme, so it was completely possible that he was getting off on the sight of two femmes fighting over one trying to get naked, but by the fact he was also trying to cover his optics with his claws reassured him a bit that the kid understood modesty.

"BARA NO!" Emily suddenly screeched as the shorter femme turned and raced out of the door, leaving her armor dangling limply from the taller femme's hands… "Oh shit!

No sooner had Bara disappeared they heard Aurora's voice yelling something from out in the hall. "Bara what are you doing streaking around naked?! You're supposed to be wearing armor! Not flashing everything to everyone and their grandmother! Harp close your optics!"

"Shut up Rory!"

The sudden sound of something crashing, followed by more crashing sounds echoed from the hallway, followed by a loud screech from Aurora. "Ahh goddammit! My heads stuck in the goddamn chandelier! Ow that hurts like a sonuvabitch! Bara when I get out of this you won't be able to walk in a straight line for a month!"

They all jumped when Rya suddenly walked in. "You know, you've gotta wonder what she meant by that?"

"What the?! When did you get here Rya?!"

She turned towards Cliffjumper and shrugged. "About five minutes ago."

"So you heard and saw all of that?" Rya just nodded before turning to watch the rest of her family as she lowered herself down to lean against his side, the two content with remaining as they were.

After a moment though she decided to answer verbally. "Yes I did. I wouldn't be surprised if the dead rose on the other side of the planet because of that shouting though."

"Uh, shouldn't you go help her or something?" He asked after nudging her side to get her attention.

"Yeah… there's a reason that the chandeliers are that high, and that's to prevent her from getting her feathers stuck in them, and now, they're stuck. So I'm not going near that shit." She responded with a shrug.

"I personally think it's' fun to get my feathers stuck in the chandelier. It's tingly." Emily pointed out.

"Yeah but you're you, so that statement is completely invalid. This is Ro we're talking about; she doesn't have any mental instability that we know of. I'm not going anywhere near that. But you're her sister, so why don't you go help her?" Razor piped up.

"Yeah I already died once, and I'm not going out there to get decapitated again." Emily waved off.

"You were cut off at the shoulders not the neck." Rya added.

"Details." Emily waved her off again.

"It's a pretty important factor remember?" Razor added.

"Yeah well I don't really give a damn right now. Ro's still got her feathers stuck in the chandelier, and Bara's still streaking around naked somewhere. Who's going to go stop her?" Emily stated, placing her servos on her hipplates.

A sudden audio piercing shriek echoed from somewhere inside the palace. "BARA WHAT THE HELL?! WHERE IS YOUR FREAKIN' ARMOR FEMME?!"

"I guess Sonson found her." Rya chuckled. "Three pounds of apples says he fainted." She bet, but no one took her up on that, knowing that they would lose.

The sound of his feminine screeching was quickly drowned out by the sound of Aurora yelping and squeaking, prompting those present to get up and peer into the hallway where Harp was now in her bipedal form trying to untangle her daughter's feathers from the chandelier. "Ro if you continue whining like this I'm going to slap you in the eye."

The blue Titan slumped, the whining cutting off as she stood there sagging while the much smaller femme proceeded to continue plucking her feathers out one by one from the complex ornamental piece.

"Well that's one hell of a blow to one's pride." Rya commented with a smirk.

"How about Bara running around streaking, only to tackle you and then you end up groping her breasts?" Emily chirped.

"That's it Emily! No more anime!" Aurora growled, having heard the red and green femme.

"Aww why not?" Emily whined, slumping at the prospect.

"Because you're coming up with weird fantasies again! And I do not want a repeat of that horny plant thing that you made all those years ago!" Aurora snapped.

Cliffjumped turned towards Emily sharply, jaw dropping slightly. "You did what now?!"

"What? I just made it so all the bugs would want to fuck it." She responded with a shrug.

"Emily you released it into the surface world and now it's a pest!"

"Well at least people think it's natural. I could've made it into the piranha plant from Mario or something! I love those things! Oh and there's the chomper from Plants Vs Zombies! I could've made that! Hey that reminds me that I actually want to make that!"

"You already did! Twice!"

They all turned towards the hallway when a purple and blue streak raced by screaming. "FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM! OH HEY RORY!" Bara yelled as she raced passed again.

Aurora turned towards them as much as she could with a glare on her features. "Ok one of you needs to go and sort that out."

"I think it's cute that she's calling you Rory!" Emily cheered, tail swishing around behind her as she attempted to imitate some strange anime pose.

"Emily I don't give a rats ass about cute! That is not my name!" Aurora all but bellowed, her visible eye twitching heavily as her useless forelegs kicked the air in front of her.

Harp suddenly smacked her over her right eye, resulting in Aurora letting loose a pained squawk. "Mum!"

"Watch your language Aurora!" Harp scolded her harshly.

"Mum I was cursing up a storm before you even-OW!" She yelped when Harp smacked her over the eyelid again.

"That's for the one before then!"

Aurora seemed to give up on arguing, instead settling in for the long haul while Harp continued to pluck her dozens of feathers from the chandelier one at a time. "Well since I'm currently trapped in the chandelier someone else has to go keep an eye on the bots going to the arctic. So who's going?"

Each of them exchanged looks with one another…

"Not it!" Emily quickly exclaimed.

"Not it either!" Razor quickly followed up.

"I wanna go!" Cliffjumper exclaimed. Only for Emily to shoot him a look which told him he wasn't going anywhere in his condition.

"Not it." Harp muttered whilst plucking another feather out of the chandelier.

"Well as I just said, I'm not going anywhere for a while… and it's way too cold up there." Aurora winced, shuffling her hind claws against the floor when Harp tugged on a feather that was lodged in the chandelier much tighter than the others so far.

Rya looked around at the rest of them and growled. "You bunch of assholes! Of course I get stuck going to the coldest place on fucking earth! Fuck each and every one of you!"

Aurora looked up at Harp expectantly. "How come you haven't whacked her for cussing like that?"

"Do you want me to get your head out of this chandelier sometime today Aurora? Or should I stop what I'm doing to smack Rya for cussing when you know it won't do a thing to stop it?"

She just huffed moodily. "Just go Rya! Make sure all of them get out of there in one piece, and take Sonic with you since he technically lost the game of not it too!"

"Yeah, yeah…!" Rya turned to go find Sonic, but before she could get too far Cliffjumper pulled her away from the others.

"Hey, can you make sure to keep an eye on Cee for me? I'm worried about her, she's an Ice, she might get... testy?"

His words caused a stab of jealously to shoot through every part of her and into her furnace. It was selfish and she knew that, but there was something in the back of her helm which didn't want her to share, even with his intended, but she doesn't vocalise this. But still, when Arcee got here, she'd lose Cliffjumper, and she desperately wanted someone around that she could look up to like she used to with Ignial. Having Cliff around made that pain a little easier to shoulder…

She just stared at him, in turmoil on the inside, but knowing that she couldn't say no because if something happened to Arcee it would hurt him. So as much as she was seething in that part of her helm, she nodded. "I'll keep her safe."

He smiled one of those bright, devastatingly happy smiles at her. "Ok! Take care of yourself when you're out there, ok kiddo? I'll see you when you get back!"

"Ok." With that she turned and left to find Sonic, each step feeling heavy because of the negative emotions churning inside of her.

"Oh boy, it's like all of Ignial's romp fests all over again." Razor muttered as Rya turned the corner and disappeared from sight.

Emily shot him a look whilst Cliff remained confused. "What'd yah mean?"

Razor shrugged. "Rya, doesn't share well, as you probably noticed." Cliffjumper nodded. "Well when Ig ever went to… get off… with someone, it left Rya pissed until he came home and told her that they were no good, that is after she found out what he used to do, he got better as the years went on, but hey, by the time he was shot, he had gone completely off it."

Cliffjumper groaned. "Mech, you really needed to keep that to yourself."

Razor just shrugged again. "Just trying to warn you, Rya's possessive, and after Ig died, she just got more so."

Aurora cleared her throat then. "How about we change topic?"

Emily piped up then again. "Oh! I know! Let's play Dead man calling!"

Aurora growled. "Last time we played that, you ended up infesting half the palace with creeper vines with a taste for metal!"

Emily groaned. "Sis! That was like… twenty years ago! I promise I ain't gonna do that again!"

"Well, we're not playing that death trap in disguise!"

Cliffjumper looked back over to Razor. "Do I even want to know?"

Razor shook his helm. "Only if you wish to forever terrified of creeping vines, Ro still can't be in the corner of the Greeenhouse those things culminate in. And those are just normal Vines Em uses to hold up a few shelves."

"Ah… Weird."

"You only realise that now?"

"Eh, I had a hunch since that time Sonic walked on the ceiling to avoid the tar splatter that Iyubi left after Aurora took it out."

"Really? I thought that was funny."

"You've lived with this longer."

"Ah, fair point."

* * *

:I'm a flightless bird… the indignity of life sometimes…: Sonic sighed from where he was standing on the snow bank to Rya's left, disguised as for lack of better words, a penguin, which he wasn't the least bit happy about. For that matter he was well aware that Rya wasn't in the greatest mood either, though why he wasn't sure. :So, what exactly crawled up your ass and rotted away in there?: He asked.

Rya turned away from glaring at the walls of ice surrounding them on either side of the passage where the bots were supposed to be bridged in. :I hate the cold, that's what's got me ticked off!:

:Then why don't I believe you?: He enquired gruffly, had a penguin had more dexterous facial features, he would of raised an eye ridge at her.

:Like you're one to talk about being pissed off! You don't like being here anymore than I do asshole!: Rya snapped back, beak clacking together to emphasise that.

Well he couldn't really argue with that now could he? Not that he was stupid enough to believe that there wasn't more to her foul mood than the simple fact she didn't like the cold. If he had to bet… he'd say that it had something to do with the fact that they had to watch over Arcee. It hadn't escaped any of their notice that Rya had grown close to Cliffjumper in a way that she hadn't with anyone since Ignial's death, so it wasn't a stretch to say that she was getting just as possessive of him. So Arcee being his intended mate made her feel threatened.

:You're pissed about having to watch after Arcee.:

:And you're not pissed about having to be a flightless bird just so that we can babysit these assholes?:

:I've already stated that I'm not happy about being a fucking penguin Rya!:

:Well that just compounds it all doesn't it? We're stuck in the fucking Arctic, disguised as penguins, so that we can babysit Aurora's imprint, Bulkhead, and Arcee!: She practically spat the name with distaste. :Tell me you're happy in any way about this!:

:Why are you suddenly acting like a child when Cliff asked you to look after his intended? He asked you to do this because he trusts you so what's the big deal?:

Before she could respond Aurora's voice suddenly boomed through the link Sound had made between them. :Could you two just focus on the task at hand?! We can hear you two arguing all the way over here! Get your shit together!:

:Must you yell like that Ro? Those two are already bad enough as it is.: Soundwave spoke up. :You lot are being incredibly loud right now, and I'm trying to work on this data file and get it complete before that high healed bitch walks in here and ruin my already 'joyous' day.:

:Sorry Sound, but it seems like yelling is the only way to get them to listen.:

:Ok you two, get your asses in gear! I don't want to listen to you yelling at each other, and Ro yelling at you!:

:Fine!:Rya snapped irritably.

They lapsed back into relative silence for a few moments, the only sound the howling of the arctic wind as it chilled them to the bone. It did nothing to lift either of their spirits, but then again nothing was going to lift Rya's spirits in the current situation.

Sonic sighed upon sensing the direction of her thoughts, rolling his short neck back in exasperation. :Ancients, you are impossible to please, just deal with it, Arcee is Cliff's intended, and there's no changing that, and really, you think Cliff's just gonna leave you like that?!:

 _'_ _He'll end up leaving you sweetpea, just like Ignial did. But I'll never leave you… I'll always be right here with you… always…'_

:Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!:

 _'_ _Oh sweatie, how does it feel? To be so full of burning anger... that, you, just, want, to... explode?'_

:JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP! SHUT UP!: This time, Soundwave and Aurora didn't chastise her for her volume.

She halted when she was suddenly pulled into a hug, black and white feathers wrapping around in in likely the most awkward hug ever conceived. The voice rolling through her head changed to a dangerous sounding hiss.

 _'_ _How dare that fucker touch you! You're mine! Mine! MINE!'_ It screamed at a deafening decibel.

Sonic clearly heard the voice shrieking at her, and tightened his hold on her as much as he could in this form in response. :Whatever it's yelling about, it can go use that to get off on and go fuck itself.:

 _'_ _Burn in hell you cock sucker!'_

:I ain't gay!: He hissed back.

Rya snorted. :No but yah bi.:

:I am not!:

:Whatever you say.:

He huffed and let go, pressing his flipper into her face to push her away after being sufficiently convinced that the voice had receded for now. :We need to focus on the mission.:

No sooner had he mentioned it, a ground bridge opened and out stepped Optimus, Bulkhead, and Arcee. It didn't escape his notice that Rya levelled the only femme in the group with a scathing glare that had him rolling his eyes as he moved to follow them at a distance, prompting Rya to do the same.

They kept out of the group's sight, but made sure that they could clearly hear and see them.

"A lot different than our last polar visit. It feels like Summer." Arcee muttered as the three walked through the ice chasm that they'd bridged into. She could clearly feel the difference in temperature compared to the last time she'd been here, and for some reason it made her feel as if the sun was only feet away from her, melting her from the inside out, it was ticking her off more than far more than the uncomfortable pricking feeling which danced along her entire frame.

Oh how Rya wanted nothing more than to chuck fireballs at the bitch and get rid of her! ... She had to stop herself then, trying to process where the sheer ferocity of that had come from.

Sonic leveled her with a stern glare. :Don't even think about it!: He hissed, quickly blasting his younger sister with a burst of air to cool her down.

:I'm not going to actually do it! Even if it does sound like an entertaining idea…:

:Ancients, you're being ridiculous right now! Just stop!: He continued to hiss. :You're starting to sound like Emily! So cut it the fuck out!:

:Fine!:

With that they resumed tailing the bots as they made their way around a break in the ice wall, close to where the Starscream was supposed to be melting the ice to get to the energon deposit stored underneath. Bulkhead peered around the corner first, followed by Prime who towered above him, then Arcee who knelt down near their peds.

"Here that's a bad thing." Bulkhead muttered with a shake of his helm.

Sonic and Rya slid into position so that they could see what he was looking at, and the sight of the Nemesis hovering maybe a hundred feet off the ground, a laser beam melting the ice right before their very eyes had them tensing.

Arcee shivered, not from the cold but out of horror, something inside her, to put it simply, was screaming, writhing in pain at the site of the laser, melting the ice before them... her ice… Something inside of her snapped like blinding fire coursing through every part of her, which she blamed her next actions on.

She was specifically told to hide her element by her intended, and yet her anger was so palpable that she sent a command to the ice around her, causing a large, sharp, chunk of ice from the cliff side a good thirty metres long, and sent it careening into the hull of the Nemesis with enough force to pierce the thick metal like it was plastic. She hadn't even touched the massive hunk of ice, it had just floated there after breaking free, before a swing of her arms had given it the motion it needed.

"Arcee!" Optimus reprimanded her, while Bulk just stared at the fluids leaking out of the ruptured hull of Megatron's vessel, neither of the two mechs anywhere near understanding how, why and what she'd just done in front of them.

"Whoa! What just happened?!"

:Hey that was a pretty good shot. Actually severed one of the main fuel lines for the ship.:

:Whoopdee fuckin' doo Sonic! Why don't you just make yourself fucking useful and stop stating the obvious?!:

Sonic just huffed, shifting to his bipedal form and ducking behind an ice outcropping as he drew a few throwing stars from beneath his cloak. He peered around the ice wall and chucked one of the throwing stars in an upward arc, calling on his element to meld the wind currents and guide it so that it sailed around the clearing high out of sight, a smug smirk lifting the edges of his lips when he used a sharp downwards current to send it straight into Starscream's aft. He had the joy of seeing Starscream release a startled yelp when it tore through his aft plating, sending him jumping at least five feet off the ships launch deck.

Said mech reached back and yanked the sharp weapon out of his plating. "Where the pit did this come from?! Konockout! I demand an explanation!" He roared at the red aston martin mech.

"Must be that overwhelming magnetism you exude Starscream." Knockout remarked in amusement, optics drifting towards the ground, or more specifically Arcee and Bulkhead who were racing towards the Nemesis in their vehicle forms. "Perhaps we should worry about your aft later… we have Autobots incoming! And one of them seems to have a talent for hurling massive objects at us I should add!"

Starscream whipped around and growled, crushing the shuriken in his servo as he eyed the Autobots approach. "Why is it that every time a plan comes together this cursed Autobots show up to ruin everything?!"

"It's just your luck Lord Starscream, but perhaps you should allow your second in command to take care of this?" He turned and gestured Breakdown over. "Breakdown total them!"

The mech in question just took off running and jumped over the edge of the Nemesis, free falling towards the ground with a boisterous laugh. He didn't get to descend more than a few feet when a flame tipped arrow suddenly shot through the air and pierced his shoulder plate, the force it struck with pinning him to the hull of the ship.

Rya ducked back out of sight after pinning the now livid mech to the Nemesis, crouching down next to Sonic, but keeping a vigilant watch over what was still happening with her bow held close to her side, another arrow having already formed to replace the fired one.

"Now what happened?!" Starscream screeched from atop the Nemesis, so loud that it echoed off of the ice canyon walls and reverberated through everyone gathered.

:Nice shot Rya!:

:Yeah! Yeah! Just focus on helping Optimus get up on the Nemesis yah asshole!: Rya chastised him when she caught sight of Optimus' vehicle mode racing across the top of one of the icebergs.

:On it!:

Sonic waited until Optimus sped up and jumped off the highest point of the ice cliff, then he sent a gust of wind at his under carriage which gave him the extra boost he needed to reach out and grab onto the Nemesis and heft himself up onto the bow of the ship. Once there he transformed and raced off towards the stern where Starscream and Knockout were manning the laser.

Knockout stared down at where Breakdown was pinned to the hull of the ship, but he couldn't get to his mate at the moment. (Are you alright Breakdown?)

(Does it look like I'm alright Knockout?! I'm pinned to the hull of the ship by a fragging arrow!)

(Don't worry! We'll get you off there as soon as-!) Whatever he was about to say was cut off when the roar of a powerful engine invaded his audios. He stood up at the same moment that Starscream turned towards the bow of the ship where the sound was coming from.

Within an astrosecond Optimus' vehicle form shot into their view.

"What good is a second in command that fails to watch the rear?!" Starscream shoved Knockout aside and kicked the vehicon manning the laser out of the seat so that he could jump into it and turn it on Optimus as the Autobot leader closed in on them.

Sonic turned towards Rya who was still bent on death glaring at everything. :You wanna take out the laser? Blowing it up might calm you down a bit. And end the potential bitch fit Ro's throwing.:

:Whatever! I'll take care of it so you don't have to get your feathers dirty by doing it!:

She allowed herself to burst into flames, using the network to teleport directly in front of the laser, quickly taking the form of a small mouse and burning a hole in the base of the weapon. Then she crawled inside and used a small burst of fire to melt the wires that connected the laser to its' power source, revelling in the way the circuits melted and fizzled under the heat, then an idea hit her and she clambered right up into the main core, which was still firing on all cylinders due to the momentum the parts still had, so, she jumped up, right into the main laser, and with a quick twist, began spinning against the laser, using it as a way of generating traction as she herself began superheating her frame, and within moments, the internals of the machines reached their flash point, and the laser imploded around her.

On the outside Sonic was clearly able to see the exact moment that the laser suddenly stopped via a moderate explosion, functioning just as Optimus closed in and transformed, jumping into the air and transforming his arm into a sword which he swung down and cleaved the front half of the laser clean off, just before the brewing flames reached it.

The explosion sent everyone within range flying, including Optimus who was blown clean off the Nemesis. Where he went Sonic couldn't really say because he covered his eyes to protect them from the debris that was whipped up by the blast wave. He wasn't worried about Rya since the heat and flames couldn't hurt her, but he needed to make sure that Optimus, Arcee, and Bulkhead were ok.

Arcee and Bulkhead had been blown back a fair distance as well, but the former was able to recover quickly. When the debris cleared she immediately caught sight of Optimus laying in a small crater created by his own weight crushing the ground upon impact. "Optimus!"

Before any of them could move Starscream suddenly shot down from overhead with his missiles engaged. "MEGATRON'S GREATEST MISTAKE WAS ALLOWING YOU TO LIVE PRIME!" He yelled.

:Oh shit!: Sonic cursed as he leapt out from his hiding spot to intervene.

But an arrow came out of nowhere and clipped his wing, which forced him into a death roll mid-air, courtesy of Rya who was crouching atop another glacier where she'd teleported after the initial explosion, her frame still lightly smoking from the blast she'd just created.

Something broke the sound barrier above them, then Megatron's airborne vehicle form rammed Starscream, somehow keeping the smaller jet pinned between the front prongs of his alt mode as he ascended back towards the Nemesis with the traitorous second in command caught in his grasp and screaming the entire way.

Sonic watched them disappear from sight, not even flinching as Rya suddenly assimilated next to him in a burst of flames. :Sound's there, she can get him to calm down enough, so as to still have that wuss for herself.:

:For Megatron's sake I hope she can get him calmed down. Eh, even if she doesn't she'll just take it out of Megtron's hide, then Ro will resurrect Starscream and Sound can kill him herself.:

:True. Either way Starscream's going to be ripped apart limb from limb one day… and maybe devoured too. Serves the fuckin' asshole right!:

He didn't respond to her, instead watching Optimus regroup with Arcee and Bulkhead, then Ratchet, Bee, and Raf made their way over after being commed to open a ground bridge. They didn't have an immediate way back to their base, and while they could drive that would take a hell of a long time. Well fuck… he'd help them out this time since it would ease some of Ro's stress to know that they'd made it back safe and sound.

He smirked… Didn't mean he had to be polite about it when he melded the wind currents together to form a swirling vortex, and without warning sucked the entire lot of them up so fast that they didn't even have time to yell before he teleported them back to Jasper.

He then dived into the large twister he'd formed, one final look telling him that the Nemesis was already limping away as he teleported back to the Palace.

Rya stood there gawking, hood having been blown off her head with the force of the winds and she realized her brother had just left her stranded, in the Antarctic. "SONIC! YOU ASSHOLE!"

* * *

Nemesis

Megatron growled as he finally finished giving Starscream his much needed punishment, watching with a fair level of disdain as a group of four vehicons, on order, carted the now beaten mech to med bay.

He turned to Soundwave then, taking in his most loyal follower. "Soundwave, a report of all that has happened in my… absence." He commanded.

Soundwave nodded, pulling up the report and sending it to him.

Megatron nodded, intending to look it over within the sanctum of his quarters, glancing over at Soundwave he asked. "And, how have you been with Starscream in charge?"

That threw Soundwave, her optics shuttering multiple times before she found a suitable vocal recording.

/He is an insufferable piece of undeserving slag, my lord./ Felt surprisingly good to say that, albeit through a recording.

Megatron nodded again, stepping forwards and placing a heavy servo on her shoulderplate and squeezing it lightly, again surprising Soundwave. "I will remember that, if memory serves, that was recorded after that battle where Tarn was working with my SIC… he was quite displeased after that, despite them winning that battle."

Soundwave just stared ahead, waiting for him to let go, which only happened when Knockout strode in.

"Well, I'm pleased to announce that Breakdown has now been freed from the side of the hull, and work is already being made to remove the significant chunk of ice which was somehow lodged into the hull." He declared.

Megatron raised an optic ridge at the medic. "And how exactly, did Breakdown end up stuck to the side of my ship Knockout?"

Knockout barely held in a growl, which Soundwave easily picked up on, as well as the thoughts which were flying through his processor. All whilst the mech revealed the large arrow which had been fired at Breakdown. "Mid drop to engage the Autobots, this, hit my assistant, the force pinning him to the side of the hull by the shoulderplate." He declared, handing the pale red shafted projectile to the gun metal grey warlord.

Megatron hummed as he flipped the arrow around, taking note of the tip, examining it closer he realised there was an etching on it, reminding him of a Predacon skull, with three jagged markings running along them. He then ran his digits down the length, taking note of the six stabilisers on the end, the main colouration being a pitch black with tiny ember like flecks of red. "This, held Breakdown suspended by his shoulderplate?" He enquired, going to try and bend it with his own strength, only to be genuinely surprised when the metal gave not even a single millimetre of bend. "Extraodinary…" He rumbled, holding up to the dim light of the bridge.

Knockout spoke again. "Breakdown claims that it was on fire when it struck him, and the charring around and within his wound is testimony to that." He added. "I plan to take an analysis of the tip to see if there is any residual chemical which could be flammable. We may be able to track its source then." He declared.

Megatron nodded, handing it back to the medic. "First though, there is Starscream to intend to, and I am yet to be told how a chunk of ice, larger than myself, ended up lodged in my ship."

"My lord? Scanners show that the Autobots have all disappeared after being sucked into some sort of tornado." A vehicon spoke up from the console he stood at.

That caught their attention, even Soundwave turned to face the vehicon, whilst checking in with the others, and discovering a few things, Rya was absolutely murderous, having just been picked up by Razor and taken back to the cavern, and Sonic was currently hiding from her.

What was going externally however drew her back to the present before she could look further into what had happened.

"Hmm, Optimus and his Autobots are not so easily disposed of, but, continue keeping records of any other strange occurences." He ordered.

Another vehicon stepped away from his monitor then. "My lord, during a mission your SIC sent myself on my unit on, planning to intercept a human nuclear device, mid conflict we were attacked, by feral… plant life… one of my unit was eaten by the creatures, myself and GR-3G and M4-0K were able to get away in time. Two other members of my unit where offlined by the Autobots before the creatures arrival." He announced.

There was a beat of silence as Megatron stared at the vehicon. "Is there proof of this event?" He enquired, taking a step forwards.

The vehicon nodded. "Yes my lord Gr-3G recorded the event." He declared, moving back to the monitor he had stood at before, quickly he located said recording, and sent it to the main screen to play, which Soundwave sent the code to start.

A silence fell over as the view one the screen shook, cracks forming in the ground from where the small woodlands was, just as the massive roots broke through the ground, screeching somehow as they revealed the rows of serated teeth they bore, moments before bearing down on a Vehicon standing off to the left and holding onto a large tree trunk.

It took less than five seconds for the plants mouth like appendages to tear the mech apart, pieces of him being torn between the different mouths and snapped at whilst small slithers fell to the ground or into the cracks the roots made.

The moment they were done, they receeded back from view, the cracks remaining as a permanent reminder of what had happened.

Megatron's features, along with Knockout's had twisted into something akin to a mix of shock and intrigue.

Megatron turned to the others standing in the brig. "It would seem, we have a new opponent, one so far, unknown to us, from here on out, I want everything reported directly to Soundwave, if any other events such as that take place, I am to be contacted immediately. Understood?!" He commanded.

"Yes Lord Megatron!" The vehicons and Knockout chorused, Soundwave remained silence, watching this take place with an unwavering vigil.

Things were going to get interesting from here on out.

* * *

 **That they are! Many twists yet to come! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and once again I apologise for the lateness, time is a rare commodity for me at present. Oh well, until next time!**


	17. Trapped in Merry-go-land

**I am really sorry about the delay on this, the last few months have been incredibly hectic and stressful for me, what with getting ready for the next step of my education being University, and finding a course, and Uni I wanted to go to, got some good choices now, but almost instantly after all of that happened, bam, sick for three weeks and coughing constantly till I passed out from exhaustion and from splitting headaches, it was not fun, and heavily sapped my muse dry. But, thankfully, it came back, and I was able to finish chapter 22, so, now, chapter 17, hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 17

Rya groaned as she came too, eye lids heavy as she pried them open and took in the almost grey scale world from outside the black fabric of her hood. This was why she didn't like humans; they caused way too much trouble sometimes.

Now she was stuck in this odd version of reality because of them. Why couldn't the black and pink haired one just stay at the Autobot base where it was safe?!

"I thought only shadows could get between realities…" She muttered to herself, not noticing the three figures staring down at her sprawled out form, that explosion had knocked her from her hiding place, which had unfortunately, been directly between the two groundbridge portals.

"What? What do you mean by shadows getting between realities? How is that even possible?" One of the voices spoke, but she couldn't be bothered to work out which.

The predominantly black robed figure, with red strikes, and little gold spots, looked up at the three humans standing around her. The same ones that had gotten her into this mess to begin with…And she was surrounded by them… Just, perfect…

 _'_ _This is why we should just kill all humans…'_ The inner voice practically purred at her the soothing voice ringing through loud and clear in the death like silence that surrounded her.

 _'_ _Shut up. Why don't you just lock yourself up in the farthest corner of my mind and shut up? Just go away and shut the ever loving fuck up!'_ She hissed back internally.

 _'_ _But sweet pea… I'm the one that's been keeping you sane all these years. Giving you comfort, companionship, and I'm the only one that listens to you.'_ It responded, trying to wrap around her, but she quickly broke loose of its hold.

 _'_ _Go the fuck away already! I have things to do!'_ With that she turned back towards the humans, who were still staring down at her curiously. She sat up, causing her black robe to billow over the sickly grey coloured ground, and in doing so a wave of nausea pooled in her stomach… forcing her to clutch at her middle. "Oh fucking hell…" She mumbled, feeling like her furnace had been knocked out of whack by going through the groundbridge.

"Um, you don't look too good." The older of the two males commented.

"She looks like she's gonna heave." The only female of the group of three commented.

"You know what Miko? You got us into this mess!" The taller male snapped back, poking a finger at her accusingly.

"Shut up Jack! What are you gonna do about it?" Miko growled back, going on the offensive against him and taking a step closer to him in the process to seem more intimidating.

She shuddered in disgust. "Ugh… go get a room already!" Her own agitation had only been spiked further by the twos small quarrel.

"Errr... guys? I think you're neglecting some things. One: we can't see her face even though she's looking at us. Two: her eyes are glowing and they have slits for pupils, so she's not human, I think. Three: this is one of those robed ones the bots keep mentioning, and her voice is definitely feminine." The youngest of the three commented.

Her eyes widened in shock, the youngest was right! Quickly she shifted her appearance so she looked like a seventeen year old, not the normal thirteen year old she took to resemble herself. But she hadn't disguised her voice; they knew she was a female.

Aurora was not going to be pleased she let the humans see her she feared. She was so going to be dead as soon as she got out of this strange place. "Shit! You weren't supposed to see me! You weren't supposed to see me!" She stumbled to her pedes and slowly backed away from the humans, putting her arms up between them, thankfully the sleeves were of such a length that ends draped down over her hands, hiding them from view as she continued to back away from the three.

 _'_ _You could just kill them and tell Ro it was an accident sweet pea… I'm sure Ro would understand…'_ The voice purred, trying to wrap around her again.

 _'_ _Shut the fuck up! All you care about is killing! So leave me the hell alone and let me live my life!'_ She snapped back, giving it a mental shove to try and get it to back off.

 _'_ _I'm just saying… taking three measly human lives, it might offer solace for all they've done to you. Just think about it… They've wronged all of you somehow.'_ It persisted.

 _'_ _Say one more thing about my family and I will end you!'_ She threatened, even though she knew herself that they'd already tried everything, and Soundwave had even been unsuccessful in dealing with it.

 _'_ _You can't get rid of me sweet pea… I'm a part of you just as much as you are a part of me, and I'm staying for the long haul. There's nothing you can do to get rid of me. I'm immune to everything you could possibly do to try and make me go away. We're one being you and I, two parts of one whole… symbionic… like a bird hitching a ride on an elephant's back. I'll forever be here, always watching over you, whispering sweet, sweet nothings into your minds ear'._ It cooed.

 _'_ _I'm not an elephant! Now get the fuck out of my head dammit! You're nothing but a stupid parasite!'_ She roared at it, trying to fight free of its ever reaching grasp.

 _'_ _Alright sweetie… I'll go, but remember… I always come back… And one day you'll listen to me and exact vengeance against the ones that wronged you…'_ With that, it receded away, ever since she'd started fighting it, its attempts had become much more frequent and much more persistent.

Rya couldn't help but to let out a sigh of relief when the voice finally disappeared from her mind. She could hardly keep her sanity with the constant whispering in her helm. Sweet nothings her aft!

"Are you okay? You kind of spaced out there for a minute." The shorter of the two males asked.

"I'm fine! Now leave me alone!" She growled irritably, before storming off a little ways, only to have her helm snap up when a large white and red pede appeared in front of her. The Autobot medic didn't seem to notice her, and she had no time to scramble out of the way before he stepped forward and bowled her over.

Only it never happened, instead the sensation of cold air rushing through her body resulted… making her furnace shudder… Her teeth clacked together as she curled in on herself to try and warm up some, she swore she'd just had an in depth look into the guys leg, but it had been too quick for her to catch, instead she wrapped her sleeved arms around her chest, starting to rub at it in an attempt to warm up the chilled vital organ. "Damn that's cold! Did he just walk right through me? Shit… I better not be dead! If I am, I'm going to find Ignial and kick his ass, and if Uri's here I'm going to kick her ass, then I'm going to go back to Ig and kick his ass again, and then glomp his unconscious form." She growled out, before sighing, she wasn't dead, being dead would mean she would've passed Liara, and as she had not seen her aunt, as she rested in Purgatory, she could not of moved on.

All of a sudden Miko ran up next to her. "Whoa… he totally just walked through you! Or did you go through him? Oh whatever it was the coolest thing ever!" Miko's sudden exclamation caused her to jolt slightly as she pulled herself back up to her full height, which was about a foot over the fifteen year old.

"Miko it is not cool! Something really weird is going on here!" Jack stated, trying and failing to berate the younger teen.

"Oh shut up Jack! Geez! Have some fun for once in your life and stop being such a nag!" Miko snapped back, taking the offensive once again against the oldest of the three.

"Wh-What just happened?" The new voice caught all of their attention as the one Rya recognised as Bulkhead rose to his full height.

They all looked over and watched as Bulkhead looked around in a rather dazed state, rubbing at the side of his helm as if to relieve something.

Ratchet turned to look at him. "I can't be certain, but if two ground bridges sent to the same coordinates crossed streams the feedback could've triggered a system overload." The medic tried to explain as he too looked around the area.

"Could? Hello! More like totally did!" Miko shouted up to them, only to get no response.

"The kids made it through right?" Bulkhead then asked, worry etched into his voice as his search seemed to become more frantic.

Miko stomped forward as the younger male with glasses let out a confused, "Huh…?"

"What are they talking about?" The youngest asked, tilting his head as he looked over towards where his own guardian was searching behind a small outcrop of rock.

Rya herself was stuck in place, head turning around and taking in all of the mechs, they hadn't even noticed her, and her predominately black robe stood out worse than a blue whale in a parking lot. They hadn't even acknowledged her being there once.

Wait a second… He walked through her... she moved through him… she was going to do her head in if she continued trying to think about it. They passed through each other she decided, and now it was like they couldn't see them at all! She looked around for her family, and quickly found Razor against the canyon wall, disguised as a bearded dragon. Emily was a ways away, peeking out of a crack in the ground, disguised as a large venomous snake which she couldn't be bothered to name, and Sonic was perched on the top of the cliff wall, disguised as a hawk.

Rya jumped up and raced over to pluck up Razor, who happened to be the closest.

Only her hands phased right through his body, and he didn't even acknowledge the feeling of it. "Ray? Hello?" The humans where just out of earshot as she whispered to him, surely he could see her standing there, he was looking right at her!

He didn't respond at all… not even a twitch of acknowledgement to her presence.

"Razor seriously stop fucking around with me!" She hissed out quietly, being weary off the humans.

He turned towards the bird perched on the cliff. "Sonson do you see her anywhere?!" He called out, and she thanked the ancients he'd decided to use their own dialect instead of English, obviously so not to draw the mechs still searching the areas attentions.

"No! I haven't seen her since the ground bridges backfired! And stop calling me that!" Sonic called back, following in Razor's linguistic footsteps.

What the…? Why couldn't they see or hear her?! What was going on?!

"Emily? Did you see anything?" Razor called again, regarding the last of the four of them.

"Nothing. Do you think she's okay? Spin-Spin's going to miss playing with her." Emily sighed, resting her triangular head on the edge of the crack she was coiled up in, looking up at the sky for some reason.

Razor rolled his eyes at her comment. "You use her as bait for Spin-Spin!" He shot at her.

Emily's eyes seemed to widen in slight realisation. "Oh right… Oh well!" Had she of had any form of limbs Rya could tell she would've shrugged, like using her as her pets play toy was just as easy to brush off as dust on an old book!

Leaning back in horror, Rya could only stare at her sibling who was completely oblivious to the fact that she was right in front of him. She was so horrified and shocked that the sudden movement from her blind side startled her so much that she spun and lashed out at whoever had dared to get that close to her.

Miko squeaked and ducked to avoid the attack, causing her to accidentally punch Jack in the face instead, just missing his eye socket and instead clobbering him in the jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground in a daze. "Why me…?" Then he fainted right there on the spot, likely from the hopefully temporary damage from the blow to the head.

"Well fuck! Do you mind not getting on my blind side?" Rya then snapped at the Japanese teen, feeling the urge to snap her jaw at the teen.

Miko looked up at her curiously, unconcerned that her companion had just been struck down. "You have a blind side?" She asked, tilting her head to the side slightly in confusion.

"It happens when you get shot in the eye." She growled out in response, crossing one arm over the over.

"You got a bullet in there then?" She asked, almost too excitedly in Rya's opinion.

"Yes! It was never taken out ok?" She growled, feeling the right side of skull flare up in a phantom pain.

"How long has it been in there?" She then pressed, stepping closer to try and see past the shadows, only for Rya to step back herself to keep herself hidden, but in truth, she could just change her appearance so she looked like someone else again her age, then there would be no need for the hood at least. But currently, the teens persistence on her seeing her injury was grating at a few too many nerves.

"A long fucking time! Just remember to come up on my left side unless you want to end up like him. Got it?" She barked, taking a step forwards on her own to intimidate the teen, thankfully she seemed to get the message and took a step back

The Asian girl then saluted her. "Crystal clear sir! …I mean ma'am!"

Instead of acknowledging the girl further, she just turned and stared her family members down as what was going on finally dawned on her. They really were trapped in an alternate universe… as she'd already started fearing.

By the time she acknowledged that fact and turned back to face the bots, they were already long gone. Now no one but the humans, her, and her oblivious family members remained. And she couldn't even talk to them, instead it was like she literally didn't exist.

Alone…

Trapped with the humans…

Away from her family…

Alone... with the voice in her head…

She reached back under her hood and grasped the length of her blonde hair, tugging at it as panic welled up inside of her, using the sharp pain to keep her grounded in reality. She felt as alone as the day her father had been murdered in front of her… The hollow emptiness in her chest, and the whispering echoes of the voice tugging at the back of her mind… trying to draw her into its clutches for good.

"Are you okay? Um, miss…?" The youngest of the three then spoke up.

"What?!" She snapped at the twelve year old, causing him to jolt slightly.

He stepped back, giving her space which she desperately needed, at least this one understood people's boundaries. "I asked if you were ok?"

"Fine…" An absolute lie, but maybe denying it would make it easier to accept for now. There were still things she needed to do, like finding a way to get these humans out of here.

"I'm Raf by the way. That's Miko, and the one you punched was Jack. What's your name?"

"Fieone." In truth it was, a shortened version of her Titan name, they all had one, but they preferred the ones Aurora had given them in the beginning, and their full names they often found to be a pain in the ass to pronounce correctly.

Miko leaned closer with a scrutinizing look. "Never heard of that name before." She hummed, poking her in the shoulder, but when she went to poke again, the Dracorex growled at the teen, who quickly backed off in response.

Rya would've made a comment about it not mattering that the human had never heard it, but Raf's musing distracted her from whatever remark she was about to make. "Ratchet said that we were displaced… But we were still where they were, meaning we're here but not here."

"Huh?" Miko oh so intelligently remarked.

"We're here… but not here." He repeated quietly. "Does that mean we're in another dimension or something?" Rya felt her eyes widen slightly, the kid had gotten it in one, well, almost, now she got why Soundwave was interested in meeting him properly one day.

Miko said nothing, and Jack was still unconscious at the moment. She'd already figured that bit out, but was surprised that a small boy had worked out what had happened so quickly. Though really it should've been obvious, it was just that humans were a bit stupid sometimes… In her opinion at least, she knew Aurora would have something to say against it, maybe even her uncle, but at the moment she really didn't care for their opinions.

With a sigh, she dropped her hood, revealing a head of brown hair instead of the normal blond, the only part that was remotely similar was the tuft of blonde in her bangs. Other than that everything else had been altered so that she didn't appear remotely similar to how she normally would. Her reasoning being that the three may trust her more if they could see her 'face'. "Look we need to find a way out of here. Standing around isn't going to get us anywhere." She stated.

"You're right. But we're trapped in a… shadow zone of sorts… is there even a way out?"

"Nerd alert!" Miko finally piped up obnoxiously.

Annoying… How did Aurora handle dealing with humans as often as she did? Less than ten minutes after arriving here and already she wanted to get as far from them as possible. As much as she hated to admit it, the kid did have a point… Unless she could use her fire to get into the network and return to the other dimension, but even then she'd need Liara to give her passage, meaning she'd have been stuck in the network until then anyway.

But in order to go to the network she'd have to make sure the humans weren't able to see what she did. They were supposed to be as inconspicuous as possible and suddenly bursting into flames and disappearing was not subtle in any way shape or form.

Before anything else could be said, heavy, ground shaking foot falls filled the air, cutting off whatever they were going to say next.

The sound of something steadily stomping closer echoed across the rock walls, forcing her to turn in the direction it was coming from as one of the most putrid scents assaulted her nose. Like old pig's blood being left in the sun, mixed with a slightly metallic tang of rust from the bucket it stewed in. It made her even more nauseas than she already was from the groundbridge explosion.

Normally she would've dwelled on the fact that she was feeling sick as being a sign that she had something seriously wrong with her, but as the massive frame stalked into view from around a tall ravine, she rationalised that it was more her furnace's revulsion which was making her feel sick.. Sickly gray plating covered in dirt and dust, the only part that stood out other than the size, were the glowing purple optics.

That must be Skyquake…

He didn't seem to notice them at the moment, because he was too interested in the forms of her siblings, who were now in their robed bipedal forms. They stood around talking in hushed tones, drawing the zombified mech closer out of what she assumed was curiosity, she knew that, hadn't Skyquake been lumbering towards her siblings, the three humans would've tried to get closer, knowing that they might of gotten a better look at her family, making the walking corpses presence currently both a blessing, and a curse.

Razor was the first to catch her attention, still using their own dialect, even though the bots were now long gone, ever the cautious one. "She's not here, c'mon, we need to widen our search, Sonic, you send out as many scouts as you can to scan from above, Emily, get every leaf and organism at your disposal to help in the search, I'll check the underground and alert Ro to the situation so she can check her territory, alright, let's move out!" At his order they all jumped backwards, causing Skyquakes servo to pass right through the right side of Sonic as he took to the air and vanished from view within a miniature tornado.

That meant that Skyquake was in this version of reality with them.

"Shit!" She cursed as she tried to ignite herself in flames in order to connect to the network, this was bad, forget getting stuck further along! She had to find a way out now! Only instead of the blaze of flames and heat that normally came with her need to transport herself, She simply spat a cloud of smoke instead. And that was all she managed to do…

Panic tore through her like a tidal wave when several more attempts yielded the same results. The knowledge that she could not form her element, or manipulate it was horrifying and shocking at the same time. Her fire was what made her who she was, and now, she'd been stripped of it in this place.

But then Miko had to go and open her big mouth when realisation seemed to dawn on her as well. "ZOMBIE!" She screamed, but not in fear, but in excitement.

Perfect, blow their cover and be happy about it.

And of course that caught Skyquake's attention as she'd predicted, causing him to turn and send her furnace into overdrive when he started lumbering towards them slowly. With a curse she spun, pulled her hood up, and transformed into bipedal form even though she wasn't sure she could at the moment. Luckily it worked, and she was able to pull her black and red compact carbon fibre bow, and boron and magnesium coated arrows from her subspace, the specially designed arrow tips didn't light ablaze as she drew them though, meaning the flame supporting tips main bonus function was rendered useless.

Quickly she brushed it off, the arrows were still designed to pass through solid steel structure so they would still be worth using, lining her sight on his hip, she took aim at the upper part of his hydraulics system and fired. The arrow easily pierced the corroded armour that was supposed to protect it, sending a shower of dark purple sparks raining out from the damaged area.

The walking corpse responded with releasing a distorted, fragmented and guttural roar, voice hitching into a shriek loud enough to shatter glass at the end as he swiped wildly at the air in front of him.

She quickly lined up her sight again, but wasn't sure where exactly to aim. It would be one thing if she knew where exactly his weak spots were, but she wasn't nearly as familiar with Cybertronian anatomy, human anatomy she was an ace at, but she'd never had to shoot one of her own family when they were in a humanoid form, so she had no clue where the vital parts where, right now, immobilisation was key in her opinion.

And then Miko had to go and screw up her focus by yelling, "HE'S COMING THIS WAY!" from where she stood within Rya's blind spot, resulting in her jolting even further.

She stumbled slightly, losing sight of the area she was aiming for, and instead firing an arrow into the rock wall just to his left instead. "Damnit!" She cursed at her lost shot.

What was with humans and stating the obvious all the time?! Thanks to that outburst she'd lost her chance, and now he was too close to risk attempting another shot. So instead she spun and grabbed the humans with her robed arms, carrying them in her connected arms similar to how she'd seen mothers carry their new born children so many times before, but with the size difference, all three had enough room for her to easily hold them without fear of dropping one, once she was sure of this she took off running at a full out sprint in the other direction, praying she'd be able to get a good distance away from the walking corpse.

Jack came to with a soft groan as she continued to run, her robe billowing out behind her and clinging to her front at the speed she was moving at. "What the heck happened to me?" The oldest of the three humans groaned.

"Blondie robe girl punched you." Miko stated. "Seriously Jack! I thought you could take a punch!"

"I wasn't expecting it okay." He groaned rubbing the spot on his face which she'd punched, already there was a bruise forming there.

Rya turned to look over her shoulder to gauge how much distance had been put between them and Skyquake, and was relieved that she could no longer see or smell him. Even so, she kept running for a few more minutes just to be safe.

Once they were a good distance from where she had last seen Skyquake she slowed to a stop, leaning against the ravine wall. She took several deep breaths to calm herself down some, before she knelt to put the humans on the ground.

"Hey blondie why're you hiding your face when we've already seen it? You can see ours and it ain't fair!"

"My name is Fieone! Not blondie! And I don't care about whether I can see your face or not! You're still not allowed to see mine!" She growled out, why was this human so persistent? But, as a safety measure, she reversed her colours, making it less likely for them to see in and take in any features other than her helm if they did somehow find a way to look in.

"But we already saw you! What's the point of hiding it now?" Miko pressed back, glaring up at her in defiance.

Rya growled low in her throat. "Do you actually think I'd let you see what I really look like? I altered my appearance!"

Jack raised an eyebrow at her. "Alter your appearance?" He questioned, regarding her oddly.

Why did she have to explain this subject to a bunch of kids? Never mind that she herself was a teenager as well, but even so she was far more advanced mentally than they were. "My kind has the ability to do that. We have abilities that far surpass anything a mere human can do. And we predominately use them to keep ourselves hidden and safe, the first however I currently cannot do, due to the current situation which should be apparent to you." She stated almost mockingly as she gestured to the greyscale world around them.

"Well we did kind of figure that you weren't human." Raf agreed. "But what are you then?"

"I am a member of a sub group of my race, Charger Class to be precise, with the element of fire as my main ability."

"That explains nothing…" Miko huffed, placing a hand on her hip.

"I can reveal nothing else." She muttered irritably as she turned her helm slightly, checking for Skyquake, nothing so far.

"Well… what are we supposed to do now? How do we get out of here?" Jack then exclaimed, gesturing to the canyon they were stuck in.

"Hope that we can make it long enough for… my Guardian to come looking for me." She sighed, it was all they could do now, and who knew how long it would take for Liara to find them, there were so many different realities, all different in their laws; even how their base physics work, maybe this was one where fire cold not exist? Or at least fire by a biological means? But she wasn't one for carrying high explosives on her person; normally she could do significant damage without the use of high explosives.

Miko looked up at her skeptically. "How are we supposed to last until then? That's a zombie cybertronian! Like Zombietron 3000 or something after us! Maybe he'll fire rockets that spread the zombie virus to other life forms!" She exclaimed, apparently the direness of the situation was dawning on her at last.

"You're not helping small one!" She snapped back, easily towering over the three now that she was in her Bipedal form.

"Ok, now that was rude!" The teen snapped back.

Raf suddenly butted in before the argument could escalate further. "I hate to interrupt the argument, but where are we going to get food and water?" He asked, looking up to her like she would know how to answer, but she could tell just by how he was looking at her, that he knew she didn't know either, and had nothing on her which could help, this kid was scarily smart.

"I am not sure, and I can call you what I feel suitable for the one who does not silence herself in the heat of trying to take down a threat!" She answered before turning back on Miko.

"Well excuse me!" She huffed, once again crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.

Aggravation spiked higher within the young femme, resulting in her flaring her plating beneath the billowing cloak she wore, however due to the nature of what it was none of them could see it. She didn't mind though, the rattling of her plates should be enough to get her point across, and the robe was made for concealing, so it served its' purpose well enough.

And to make matters worse the putrid scent of rust and something akin to boiled pig's blood assaulted her senses once more, growing closer with every second. She growled, catching the human's attention as the sound echoed off the ravine walls far louder than those she'd produced previously, that walking corpse was relentless.

She had to think of something… even if she didn't want to protect the three humans which had scurried behind her form after picking up the smell themselves, it was her duty to guard them as she did the people of Qylatia, and Ro would want her to. Even after what their kind had done to Ignial. "He's coming back, find somewhere to hide. I'll try to slow him down." She stated, shifting so that her covered pede brushed against them, pushing them back slightly towards the way she had been running previously.

"Why?! When you can just come with us?!" Jack protested, trying to convince her to just run with them.

She sighed, tilting her helm down so they could see her shining blue optics, even if her right one didn't exactly work right. "One: Because it is my family's duty to protect the life of this planet from external harm. And two: Because I'd rather not have my audios yelled off because I allowed a corpse to kill you three… and running's not normally my style, I'm a charger, we normally take things on head on."

With that she left them behind to seek Skyquake out before he could get any closer to the humans. If she could draw him away they could find somewhere to hide, and then she wouldn't have to keep worrying about them quite as much whilst she tried to take care of something already dead… this was going to be an interesting venture.

She quickly found him, following the horrific smell he put off to find him lumbering towards her, purple optics locked on her a moment later.

She didn't see the three humans follow her, she was too focused on the walking corpse in front of her.

Rearing her helm back she took as deep a vent as she could, her fire didn't work, and using her furnace to supply her with flame was too risky at present time, she couldn't risk weakening herself, instead she let out a loud bellow, the force causing her neck cables to vibrate with the soundwaves, but they did the trick as she spread herself out, the robe aiding in making her appear larger then she was as a she took a false step forwards and letting off another loud bellow, baiting the mech in challenge, even his currently primitive processor would surely recognize that? Right?

He responded in tandem, letting off his own cracked bellow as he charged, the first to move. Rya snorted, tensing her legs cabling to prepare herself, the moment he was close enough, the cables snapped like freed springs, sending her rocketing over his wild swipe, she spun mid-air with the height her jump had given her and drew her bow again, lining up her sight as she fired, the arrow sinking into the mechs wing, and then through into the shoulder. The response was an enraged bellow that literally vibrated the air around them, and one she felt cause ripples along her protoform.

She landed, dodging another swipe of those wickedly pointed claws, rolling between his legs where she leapt up and kicked him in the abdomen which had him stumbling backwards a good distance.

"WOOOOO GO CLOAKIE!" Miko cheered, throwing her arms up in the air.

The sudden yell startled her so much that she turned to yell at the small human girl for doing it, but in doing so she lost focus on her opponent which allowed him to latch hold of the back of her cloak and slammed her into the ground, this repeated a few more times as the massive mech succeeded in throwing her around similar to a rag doll before finally tossing her into the rock wall a good distance away. A sharp crack rang out as pain surged up from her left arm, which had somehow got caught behind her when he had thrown her, meaning it had taken the full brunt of her weight collapsing on top of it while it was at an odd angle upon impact, the pain itself was too great for her, causing her to let off a agonised shriek as she felt her arm give way under the impact. Her entire frame was covered in harsh dents and cuts from the even harsher impacts she'd just been put through, leaving her wheezing on the floor as she tried to get up, only for her right limb to give way under her the first and only time, her left not even responding to her commands.

Using her slowly recovering right arm, she managed to prop herself up enough to see Skyquake slowly ambling towards her, snarl etched on his faceplates.

She might just not survive round two she realised.

'Uncle Cliff… Ro… everyone… I love you… daddy… I'm coming' she whimpered within her own mind, allowing her optics to slide shut, the pain was just too great.

"CLOAKIE ARE YOU OKAY?!" The shout had her optics snapping back open, how could she of forgotten the humans?!

Miko's yell had the undead mech turning towards the humans, who were peering out from behind a large rock. Jack and Raf looked at the towering mech in fear, while Miko was more focused on her limp form hidden under the now torn robe.

Skyquake turned and stumbled towards the group, leaving her scrambling to get to her pedes even as they shook beneath her from the damage done to her frame. "Damnit humans! RUN!" She shouted to them as she finally managed to right herself, rushing at the mech's back and spinning while engaging her tail spikes, swinging the deadly weapon at his back with as much force as she could muster.

It was enough to send him flying face first into the dirt thankfully, putrid purple energon spraying out of the puncture wounds left behind, and more dripped down her tail nauseatingly. The smell alone was enough to make her want to retch.

But she forced herself to concentrate on the humans, not the pain, or the stench. She raced over to them. "Move it! We've gotta get some distance between him and us now!" She shouted, stumbling at one point and having to use the canyon wall to stabilise her before she continued on towards them.

They seemed to at least be smart enough to realize that she couldn't carry all of them with only one partially good arm, so they turned and took off running as fast as their short legs could carry them. While she trotted along behind them, making sure that nothing would get between her and them again. There was no way she could afford to let Skyquake gets his servos on even one of them, lest he crush their weak bodies.

Their weak bodies reminded me of how Ignial died. The fact that he would still be here if they hadn't all taken such feeble forms. A bullet would never have been able to hurt them in their true forms, or their Cybertronian... Humans... were flawed creatures in every way. Her eyes drifted down to them, before drifting ahead once more, shaking the thoughts away so that she could focus on the task ahead, and not on the past which never seemed to want to let her go.

Still, they were inhabitants of the only home her family had ever known, and as such, it was their job to protect them as they protected all others. Not that she had to like it all the time, and especially not after all their kind had taken from her.

After running for a few more minutes they finally came to a stop after doing a wide arc around the base of the canyon. Rya leaned against the wall, panting from sprinting for so long, and due to the horrible throbbing in her arm and the still prominent pain in the rest of her frame.

"Are you alright up there?" Raf called up, looking over her form worriedly as the other two teens did the same as they too regained their breath from the long sprint.

She glanced down at Raf, his brown eyes framed by thick red glasses staring up at her with a great deal of concern as she clutched her arm to her side to try and keep it from moving too much, currently she had no idea how bad the damage was, all she knew was that she'd need Emily to work some serious magic on her, and maybe even have her uncle replace a good portion of her armour.

"Small one, if it didn't hurt I wouldn't be wincing every time I moved." She hissed through clenched denta, trying not to make too loud a sound as something which had been knocked loose shifted inside her, she prayed her furnace's gravity ring hadn't been shaken out of synch by the impacts with the ground and rocky wall, but with how much she was currently injured, it wasn't an impossibility that something had gotten free from the gravity ring and was now threatening to damage other part s of her internal system.

Miko huffed moodily. "Do you have to be so rude to us!? Not fifteen minutes ago you were our height!"

"Do you have to keep yelling all the time, and in doing so cause me more trouble? You made me miss my shot, you got me tossed into a cliff, and I got my arm broken because of you! And ancients be damned I know that something's been knocked loose inside of my body! That's not three strikes, that's four! Either shut up… or… you know what? Just shut up!" Rya snapped back, too aggravated to think up a decent retort to get her to understand that she currently wasn't up for the female teens irritable ways.

Her statement seemed to make the girl look away guiltily.

"Wow… not even your host parents are that blunt." Jack commented under his breath, but her advanced hearing allowed her to catch it.

"Hello? Who's the one with her arms hanging limp here? Me! Because of her! I'm allowed to be a bit more than angry!" She snapped back, shifting slightly so that she could slide down the rock wall slowly, grunting as the ridged plates which ran down her back scrapped at the wall behind through her robe.

"Ok, I get that you're hurting and all, but being so snappish isn't going to help us now." Jack tried to explain, stepping forwards with his arms up in a placating manor.

"I think I'm allowed to be snappish when this girl keeps yelling out, and spooking me. Do you know what I am? I'm the kind of being that spooks at loud noises, and runs not fight. You're not helping me keep you alive by screaming at me every time that thing shows up! And my name's not Cloakie, or Blondie! My full name is Fieonaziauneraju! Remember it! And if you call me that one more time, I'll have no problem letting the voice in my head convince me to squish you!"

She cursed mentally when the three humans took a somewhat fearful step back from her. "Sorry… I'm not used to being away from my family, so I'm a little agitated. I'm not normally this bad."

Was she really losing it already? Telling a bunch of humans about the voice in her head?

"Ok just please don't acknowledge what I just told you. Pretend I never said it, otherwise it gets very dangerous. Ok?"

Jack held his hands up defensively. "Ok we won't say a word about that last bit."

"Good… I'm… sorry for snapping at you like that… I'm just… used to being in a group… being alone isn't good for my kind… it makes us… dangerous… violent and… self-destructive…" With that out of her system, she turned to trying to assess the damage done to her arm, which was numb outside of throbbing horribly every few seconds. Definitely broken… meaning she'd have to set it herself since the humans would be of no help. Groaning softly, she leaned forward and grasped her upper arm, unaware that in doing so her hooded robe shifted, revealing both her clawed servo, and her double jointed legs which now spread wide across the ground to hold them in place.

"Dude your claws are huge!" Miko exclaimed upon taking the large red bases into account and then the black which was visible further up the platting the robe was no longer hiding from sight.

"Ahhhh! Son of a-what did I just say?!" She growled, having shifted wrong and jarring her arm the wrong way.

Miko smiled sheepishly. "Whoops my bad…"

Something occurred to her then… optics widening as she took in what the human teen had said. "You can… see my frame…?" It was more a whisper as she regarded the three, and her own pedes clearly in view for the three to see.

 _'_ _Shit.'_

"Yeah, your cloak's all torn up. We can see right through it." Jack pointed out,

"Ok, big sis is going to kill me for damaging my cloak! Two: Ah shit!" By the looks of it, the robe wasn't able to hold up the illusion unless it was intact, and it currently had tears and rips scattered all around it, including where the Terracon had gripped her, his claws having likely torn the robe heavily in that area, but that was currently hidden away against the wall behind her.

"Why don't you just take it off then? Then we can all be partially naked yet still clothed, without the use of blackout curtains… Kind of." Miko suggested, Rya's only response was to raise an optic ridge at her, but at this point, the lower half of her faceplates where already likely visible to the humans with the illusion no longer working correctly.

Should she just take it off? It was just going to get in the way in the state it was in at the moment… Plus, if there was something left of it Aurora could fix it later, if she ever got back that is. If not she'd have to make a new one from scratch. After debating it for a minute or so, she decided to just take it off and put it in her subspace. Pushing the hood all the way off first and reaching with her un-broken arm to the dark silver engraved clasp which held it to her right shoulder and undid it, allowing it to fall away from her shoulders with a light tug and partially fall to the ground around her, leaving her sitting on the fabric, she'd put it into her subspace once she was up again.

"You have a tail…" Raf murmured, taking in the eight large spikes, four sitting on each side and pointing upwards, the ends tipped in purple with small trails flowing down towards the predominately black tail and the now dark silver ridges, the normal gold having been replaced with silver when she reversed her red and black colour scheme.

"Yes I do. It was what I used to knock Skyquake down with earlier remember?" She responded with, leaning back so that her horns rested against the wall behind her as she looked up to the gloomy grey clouds above and the equally grey sky when the clouds parted enough.

"And you have demon lady horns!" Miko gasped in awe pointing up at the currently dark silver protrusions.

"I'm not sure if I should take offense to that or not." She grumbled, while going back to working on her arm.

"Um, do you need help with your arm?" Raf asked hesitantly, peering up at her scowling visage.

Her eyes locked on his small form, honest shock nearly overwhelming her. Was this human actually… offering to help her? Showing her kindness? "You'd really get that close to me? After all the scrap I've been throwing at you?" She asked, tilting her helm down at them.

"Yeah. You did save us from Zombietron 3000 who knows how many times in the last five or ten minutes, so we owe you! Raf can fix it I'm sure, and Jack and I can help!" Miko then turned towards Raf and leaned down to ask. "You can actually fix it right?"

"Um, I can try?" He offered in response, now able to see the damaged shoulder joint and upper arm which had been badly damaged but the Terracon using her like a crash test dummy.

"I'm not sure if it would be good for you to do that." She finally admitted, because it was true. She wasn't sure if she could actually trust them. And she'd noticed the now slowly seeping lacerations, dribbling the pale silver lifeblood which flowed through her.

"We can help though! There has to be something we can do." Miko pressed, clearly trying to get into Rya's good books. "Come on Fieone!" She begged.

"I think I can handle it myself, besides if you touched my blood somehow, you'd get shocked. It'll be safer if I just do it." Shocked was an understatement, the energy even in what little was trailing down her arm was enough to turn them to ash piles on the ground, and not in the way that it was portrayed in human cartoons.

With that she grasped her arm once more, moving it to assess where it was broken. It seemed to be at the top of her arm, where it connected to her shoulder; that had somehow been dislocated. She tightened her grip, lining her arm up, and quickly jerked it back into its' socket with a loud pop.

She hissed because of the surge of pain it caused, slamming her helm into the rock wall behind her, leaving multiple large cracks as the dark silver pieces smashed through the surface.

"You know what the best thing about zombies is? They're slow moving!" Miko stated, trying to lighten the mood surrounding them, figuring the femme needed a distraction from the pain she was likely in.

As she sat there trying to right herself, the sudden and unexpected sound of rock music playing from somewhere, echoed against the rock walls. The humans froze, "Is that your…" Raf started…

"PHONE!" They all yelled at the same time, causing her to jolt slightly.

Jack yanked it out of his pocket, flipping it open and pressing it to his ear after checking the caller ID. "Hello? Arcee?! Hello?! Arcee?!" His eyes darkened as he lowered the phone from his ear with a groan. "Nothing…"

"Gee imagine that! The fourth dimension has lousy cell phone reception!" Miko snarked sarcastically.

"Wait, guys the phone rang! So we're getting a signal!" Jack pressed, seeming to be grabbing at any possibility currently being offered to them which could give them even the slightest chance of escape.

"Maybe the Autobots can't see or hear us because we're moving at… hyper speed or something?" Raf tried to explain, but it was clear to all four of them that it was just a guess.

"Do you think that they could read us?" Miko suggested.

"Texting!" They all exclaimed together, leaving Rya lost, she'd never heard of this 'texting' thing she assumed it was one of those things that the humans had invented in the past seven decades she wasn't paying attention for.

Miko suddenly got excited. "Text me! If my phone's back at the base maybe they'll see it!" She explained, placing a hand to her chest for emphasis.

She wasn't sure what exactly they were doing, but Jack was hitting the buttons on his phone, and somehow words were forming on the screen. Was that texting? Wait… maybe she could use the number Ro had given her to get a hold of Elizabeth, so she could call Ro and let her know what was going on. If there was even a chance of it working, she had to go for it.

"Can I use that for a moment?" She asked, gesturing to the phone.

They looked up at her in surprise, exchanging looks before Jack handed his phone to her, having finished his own text. "Your hands might be a little big for it though, so please don't break it. And if anyone texts back let me know."

She nodded, cradling the small device in her right hand, using the left she located the place to input phone numbers and put Elizabeth's number in, once that was done she studied the buttons. There were little letters underneath them… but how to get which letter…?

Maybe she was supposed to push it once, twice, or three times to get each individual number? She shrugged before trying that, and much to her relief it worked just as she assumed it would!

:It's Fieone, trapped in alternate shadow reality with three humans and a 'zombie' Skyquake, send this to Sion, thanks, this may be my last and only message, tell them, they're all idiots and I love each and every one of them:

While she was doing that another text popped up, but she didn't have time to look at it, because the sound of loud pedesteps started up from somewhere behind them. She knew it was him, the smell told her that much, and no one else was trapped here with them to her knowledge.

Cursing quietly, she stood and handed the phone back to Jack, putting herself between the three humans and the undead mech. "I'm going to create an opening for you to get around him. When I say run, you run!" She explained, giving them a look telling them not to question, but they did anyway.

"Why don't you come with us?!" Jack asked, peering up at the femme as she shook her frame almost like a wet dog, causing the damaged platting to rattle around her.

"I need to slow him down otherwise he'll just catch up again." She responded, before a coy smile dawned her features. "Besides, my pride tends to get me in trouble, and now seems to be one of those times. Now when I give the signal, run like hell ok?" With that she charged the large mech, leaving the humans behind for the moment.

She rushed his massive form, jumping and delivering a harsh falcon kick to his helm, sending the mech to the ground again, and leaving one of the damaged parts of her leg armour even more damaged than it was to begin with, causing her to let off a sharp hiss before she shook the damaged leg and placed her weight back on it.

Emily was going to have a field day if she got back with this much damage, or more.

Skyquake was already trying to get up when she slammed her tail into the weaker armour under his chassis, using the curves of her spikes to puncture the metal hidden under the main chassis armour, the force lifting the mech off the ground high enough for her to deliver another harsh kick to the dented chassis and send him crashing into the far wall, it was now or never she figured, and she took her chance. "GO NOW!" She shouted to the humans, hoping they would move and find shelter from the walking corpse.

They stared at her for a moment, looking torn over the fact that they were leaving her behind, but Jack's eyes hardened and he called to the other two, "Come on!"

All three of them raced passed Skyquake's fallen form, which was slowly attempting to right itself. But she lunged as soon as he pulled himself to his knees, hooking her horns under the armor in his shoulder as she locked her neck into place, and in a quick move she bent back around her own body and used the momentum to slam the mechs upper half harshly into the floor of the canyon, the force leaving a significant crater, that had to of snapped the neck strut at least.

The corpse crumpled under the combination of weight, and the force of the toss, causing it to release a sickly moan, sluggishly pulling itself up from the ground as if the impact hadn't hurt him at all, even with his helm now at a horribly crooked angle.

"Damnit Ro! I could sure use Auntie Liara's help right about now!" She cursed to no one as she swung around to smash her tail into his side, spikes poised to rip into the weaker metal there once again. It only intensified the stench of putrid energon even more, making her want to retch again, she forced herself not to and instead swung her tail down on his thigh, piercing the hydraulics system there with the spikes and causing that leg to begin seizing up slightly by the looks of how Skyquake was putting less weight on it.

His frame sparked violently, metal groaning as he attempted to get to her again. She backed away, certain that he was not going to be getting around nearly as fast now. So she should have time to help the humans get out of here, then hopefully Auntie Liara would get there soon.

That is, if there was a way out,

She turned and took off running in the direction the humans scent was wafting from, easily able to navigate with her superior senses, even with her now badly banged up frame complaining, but she couldn't risk transforming into her beast form now, the chance of the humans telling the Autobots what happened was already apparent, and the more kept from the three the better, they already knew what her frame looked like, already knew her gender, her Titan name. They already knew too much.

It only took a few moments to find the three humans, along with something unexpected.

A severed cybertronian arm… with a missile attached to the forearm, one she quickly recognised as Starscreams.

Before she could question it the sound of pounding echoed closer. She spun around at the same moment that Skyquake came stumbling around the bend. "How the fuck is he still moving so fast?! There's no way he should have caught up so soon!" She growled, tensing as the corpses own glowing purple optics narrowed on her, well, at least it was only singling her out now and not the humans as well.

But still…what did she have to do to put this asshole down until help came?!

"Hey Fieone!" Jack called up to her.

"What?" She snapped without taking her eyes off of the undead mech, but shifted slightly so he could see that she was listening.

"Help us with this!" Miko followed on as she tried to shove the large arm again.

"Help with what?" When she turned enough she saw that they were trying to push the severed arm in Skyquake's direction, but were obviously having some trouble moving the lump of metal. She debated for a fraction of a second, but she really had no idea how to fire that thing. "I don't know how it works!" She responded, how the heck would she know how to fire a missile?!

Jack looked the limb over carefully. "Starscream did something with his fingers to make it fire." He crouched down next to said fingers, grabbing onto the pointer digit. "We only have one shot with this! Move outta the way!" He called, waving at her to get out of the missiles trajectory.

She leapt to the side as he pulled the finger, releasing the restraints holding the missile in place, and sending it screeching towards Skyquake, impacting his frame and exploding in a cloud of smoke.

Rya for a moment founf herself pondering how it was even able to fire with how her fire had all but been useless so far, perhaps because it was a chemical fire, and not the essence of the flame which she controlled, it was able to take old here? She had no clue.

"How do you like us now?" Miko cheered before the smoke of the explosion had even cleared.

'Click…'

Her audios easily picked up the sound of shifting metal, far before the smoke cleared and revealed him standing there with his right arm barely attached at the elbow. He bellowed angrily, even as said limb fell free from his body, hitting the ground and laying still for a moment.

Then it started twitching as if it had a mind of its own, claws flexing before it flipped onto the fingers and scurried towards them.

"Fuck!" She spun, and then barked an order to run, again.

Which they did thankfully, but a quick glance behind them revealed the severed limb leaping over rocks, and scurrying over the walls in its pursuit of them.

"How can a zombie arm move faster than an actual zombie?" Miko shouted as she continued to try and run

"Who cares how it's possible! Just run Miko!" Rya shouted, lowering herself so that she could keep her only working optic on the humans and the severed limb.

She was careful to keep herself between them and the severed limb chasing them, even as they seemed to lose it somewhere, where she wasn't sure. But the sound of its pointed fingers scraping across the ground faded after a few minutes. Not that they stopped running to try figuring out where exactly it was, or its owner.

Instead she just urged them on, until they somehow circled back around to where Starscream's arm was laying on the ground.

"Oh come on! This place is like one big merry go round!" Miko groaned, throwing her arms up in the air out of aggravation as they all regarded the now useless limb, well, useless unless she used it like a baseball bat or something.

"Skyquake! Your master summons you!" A new voice suddenly interrupted the fours laboured breathing/venting.

Her helm whipped to the side, optics narrowing on a tall winged mech, who happened to be missing one arm, and one she quickly identified as Starscream, she'd never seen him in person this close up outside of their trip to the Antarctic, but from what Soundwave had showed them, she knew him well enough, and she fully understood why the oldest femme in their group wanted him all to herself.

"How'd that freak get into our dimension?" Miko gasped out, dread evident in her features.

"He didn't." Jack answered her. "He can't see us." But he still pushed the other two teens behind him and closer to where Rya stood over them.

Miko whipped around, as did she at the familiar sound of clinking metal. "Forget Starscream! We gotta run! Some more…" She muttered the last bit less than enthusiastically, as the severed limb came scurrying around a bend in the rocks.

She scooped up Starscream's arm as they took off running again. Only they didn't get more than a few of her strides when a ground bridge opened up right in front of them, forcing them to slide to a stop right in front of it.

"A ground bridge portal?" Raf murmured in surprise fixing his glasses from where they'd gone slightly askew.

"That has to be our way out of here." Jack murmured, fist pumping in addition.

"The Autobots saw our text!" Miko cheered, excitement bubbling back up to the normal levels.

'Hopefully mine got through too.' Rya pondered to herself as she continued to watch the severed servo draw closer, she'd have to stay here, if she went through without her robe, she'd be discovered by Starscream, and that was not an option.

"If we go through we run smack into Starscream!" Raf concluded. "If we don't…" They all turned to look passed where she was standing, at the limb scurrying closer even as they spoke.

"We're zombie chow…" Jack grumbled.

"Option three: We keep running in cicles." Miko added.

Jack looked away from the other humans, turning instead to Rya. "Are you coming?" He asked, having noticed how she wasn't focusing on the portal and was instead looking out at the world around her, servo clenched around her right arm.

"No I'm not." She finally answered after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean you're not coming? You'll be stuck here!" Miko exclaimed, looking at her worriedly.

"No I won't. I have a way out of here, and I can't do through that ground bridge. I can't risk that mech seeing me like you have, it would put too much on the line and… I'd rather not end up as a Decepticon experiment if I don't get away in time." That last one was about as likely as her willingly letting Spin-spin use her as practice, but the humans didn't know that.

He went to protest again…

"JUST GO!" With that she backwards kicked them through the portal with her left pede, actually sending them flying through with the force she applied in her haste, and from there she wasn't sure what happened to them. The Autobots would probably be there soon, but her first priority now that the humans were safe-ish, was to deal with Skyquake until Liara showed up to take them back to the palace. However long that would take she wasn't sure, and she knew for a fact she couldn't allow either part of the walking corpse to get through the groundbridge.

As soon as the severed limb drew close enough she kicked it away to prevent it from escaping through the ground bridge, which closed immediately afterwards she was relieved to see. Leaving her standing there, facing down Skyquake as he and his limb drew closer once again, the severed servo being the closer of the two even after her harsh kick to it. Not even fully acknowledging when Optimus arrived to get the humans, hopefully the kids didn't say anything and he tried to be a valiant knight and come and get caught up in everything.

She tensed to defend herself, as he drew closer it was like a black curtain suddenly dropped down over them, obscuring the view of the world around them.

A large organic clawed paw wrapped around her middle, the digits hefting her up off the ground, but the air around her was now so thick, not even the glow of her right and partial glow of her left optic could pierce through the darkness.

"For once I get to join in on an intervention, it's certainly a nice change." Liara's voice drifted over her, causing a wave of immense relief to overwhelm her, even if her aunt sounded more than a bit mocking with how her tone sounded.

"Auntie, I've never been happier to not see your face!" Rya responded, hugging what she could feel to herself.

"And it's good to see you in one… well relatively one piece. Emily is going to have to have a look at that arm you know? And everything else." Liara responded, the growling hiss which followed seeming to draw the deceased Titan's attention away. "Sleep now corrupted one!" There was a single dark blue flash and the hissing ceased. "But I'm being serious Rya, you know Emily's going to have a field day healing you back up to optimum strength."

"Oh fuck no!" Rya groaned, leaning her helm back as if to bang it into something, only to hit nothing and for her helm to be lightly pushed back the right way by something she couldn't even feel.

"Oh fuck yes. I am not having my niece injured like that, and walking around. You are taking your iron board ass to the greenhouse, so that Emily can treat that arm." Liara snapped at her.

"Iron board ass? Auntie!" Rya gasped in outrage. "And since when did you start cursing so lightly!"

"You have barely anything of substance back there." Liara responded, ignoring the second question.

"Well at least I don't have bouncing airbags for an ass!" Not that she was referring to her Aunt, she didn't even know what the Queen Shadow Titan looked like!

All of a sudden she was jarred as her body fell with and smacked, front first right onto a familiar sheet of white marble tile flooring.

"Why is there a corpse with a severed limb that looks kind of like Skyquake in my bedroom? And what happened to your arm Rya? And where's your cloak? That took me three days to make remember? Three days! You better not have lost it somewhere! Wait a minute! What happened to you?! Auntie? Oh that's it… I'm having a word with the others about telling me 'everything's fine' and 'were going out to scout new places to eat' oh they are gonna have their afts to eat when they get back!"

Her head popped up, allowing her to take in the tall blue femme standing right in front of her, well not standing, more like pacing with a murderous expression on her features. At seeing this, she jumped up and wrapped her arms around Aurora's waist, making her stumble and fall on her aft after being caught off balance, resulting on Rya landing on top of her older sister. "I'm so damn happy to see you!" She cheered, moving to wrap her arms instead around her sisters now reachable neck.

"Rya what the hell?! Did you sustain damage to your helm or something?! You're actually happy to see me? Or have you actually flipped? ….Or did I take a hit to the head myself and not remember it… that's plausible I mean…" Aurora mumbled, trying to work out why all of this had suddenly happened, when all she'd wanted to do was just take a nap and forget about the UN meeting she'd only just gotten back from, she couldn't remember the last time she'd wanted to throw a chair at a politician that bad.

"Not sure if I should be insulted by that, but I am so happy to see you!" She interrupted before her sister could ramble anymore like she was prone to do when confused.

"Wait… Rya? Are you crying?! Who upset you!?" Aurora exclaimed, pushing her off her own frame enough to take in her tear stained cheekplates.

"No! These are tears of joy! Know the fucking difference for a change!" She almost shouted back in response.

"Well sorry I'm not used to you breaking out into tears of any sort. Last time you did that you ended up committing a massacre… I really shouldn't have mentioned that…" Aurora responded, before her optics widened and she punched herself in the side of her helm.

"Really tactful Ro." Rya muttered, huffing out a small plume of red tinted smoke.

"I try, but everyone has their imperfections." Aurora then shrugged, moving to sit up so that she wasn't lying on her side anymore.

"And yours is being an ass." Rya joked as she got up and offered her servo to help pull her larger sister up, even if said sister was easily double her height.

"Well, we should probably leave all this for later, and deal with the zombie corpse in the room with us." Aurora then stated, before the flat side of her tail lightly banged into the side of Rya's helm.

"Best idea I've heard out of you all day. And I deserved that I guess."

Aurora nodded, moving to drag the two now still pieces of the no longer walking corpse over to her pool. "Scrap, look's like I'm going to have to eat more of this shit." She grumbled as she reached into one of the large holes that Rya had put into the mech with her tail spikes and drew out a significantly sized piece of dark energon, and tossed it back so that it flew into her mouth to be digested.

Even from where she was standing she could see the shiver go through her sisters braced wings. "Taste bad?" She asked.

Aurora turned her helm to look at her with a dead pan look, only to then look her smaller sister up and down. "Why exactly did you reverse your colours?" She asked. "And what happened to you? You look like you just went twenty rounds with a peeved off Razor!" She exclaimed, gesturing to her younger sisters clearly banged up form.

Rya let off a tired groan. "Later… I'm not up to that kind of a long story right now." She sighed, moving to slump back against the wall she was closest to.

Aurora stared at her with a concerned look for a few moments before turning back to the corpse. "I'll need a strength class fossil for this big guy, and Ancients, you certainly did a number on his frame you know?"

Rya huffed as she lifted Starscreams arm into view. "Got this for Sound." She spoke up as she allowed her colours to shift back to their normal orientation.

Aurora just raised an optic ridge at her. "Yeah… we're gonna have a long talk about what the frag you were up to, which needed Auntie to pull you through a Dimensional vortex to get you here."

Before she could respond Aurora had shoved the mechs corpse and severed servo into her pool. "Later. We got this guy to deal with first."

* * *

The double doors to the room where then pushed open to reveal Bara. In her clawed servo, a large piece of rusted metal. "Got what you asked me to get." She rumbled, walking up and passing the piece to Aurora.

The blue femme nodded in thanks before falling sideways into her own pool.

Rising to her pedes Rya walked shakily over to Bara, the movement catching the femmes optic and causing her snout to swivel round to focus in on the smaller femme. "Why does she need that specific piece of steel? She didn't exactly explain… And what happened to you?!" She exclaimed after she took in how damaged Rya was.

Rya sighed, it was pretty obvious to her what her older sister was doing. "She's going to resurrect the mech, one of Megatron's highest ranking Generals." She grumbled, watching as the water of the pool began to glow a bright white.

Bara tilted her crocodilian like helm to the left slightly. "So… You don't think this is a good idea?" She asked.

Rya shook her helm. "It has to happen for the plan to work, Ro's thinking about the big picture, having Skyquake on our side, would be a major advantage, one we could use to help destabilize the loyalty within the Cons if it comes down to it. And, the more in our group, the stronger we are. Ro… just needs to convince him to see things in a different light."

"Only Ro? You're not gonna help her?" Bara asked, tilting her helm in the other direction so she could take in the now brighter pool, and then out through the large window which looked out onto the garden.

Rya shook her helm again. "Oh I'm gonna help, it's just… Ro's very skilled at using that serpents tongue of hers."

Bara's helm snapped back to her as a surprised look took over her features. "Her tongues forked?"

Rya nodded. "Yes it is, but I was referring to her ability of winning people over with only a few words, that's a skill she's perfected over centuries of convincing stubborn humans to do as she wants them, you could say that she has the whole human population wrapped around her digits. All puppets to her whim, not that she usually uses that power." She responded, almost smugly as the light finally faded away, and two forms broke the surface.

Aurora easily climbed out, the water sliding off her and flowing back into the pool as if it was being pulled in by a magnet, the other form, was grabbing at the side of the pool with his front limbs, struggling to pull himself up as he let off a started water logged cry.

Aurora turned to look at this, taking on her predacon form as she stretched her helm down, jaws closing on the mech predacons neck ridges, and easily pulling the far bulkier mech up onto the solid marble flooring, where he quickly collapsed, laboured panting leaving him as his optics remained half lidded.

Aurora stepped back once she released the mechs neck, reversing a few steps back, her tail swinging round to bar both Bara and Rya from getting closer as the mech struggled up onto all fours, before trying to push off and stand on his hind limbs, clearly unaware of his current shape.

Plates clanged together, blocking him from rising to a completely upright position.

After a moment, Skyquake's optics snapped open, the crimson red partially forward facing optics locking with the dark blue ridges which hid Aurora's helm from view.

A low growl quickly built up in his broad chassis as the strength class lowered itself onto his haunches, large thick horns which faced back towards the rest of his frame seeming to stretch out with his evident rage.

Bara shifted nervously beside Rya, taking a step back towards the double doors, Rya's right optic stayed untrained, but the sounds of her shifting where enough to alert the half blind Dracorex of the Baryonyx's movements.

It also alerted Skyquake to the two smaller Cybertronian like beings behind the one he'd been focusing on, and with a crazed bellow, he charged, leaping to the left of Aurora, instead heading directly for Bara, his leap sending him right past Aurora's, who's left optic, which was now visible to him, widened in surprise.

She began to turn, shifting her large paws in an attempt to intercept as time itself seemed to slow down, and Skyquake's larger mass collided with Bara, jaws snapping down on her maw with a sickening crunch.

"BARA!"

* * *

 **Again, really sorry about this delay, it really should of been out sooner than this, hopefully I'll be able to get the next one out quicker, well, until next time, cheerio!**

 **Moon**


	18. Hostile guests and learning on the job

**Well, this is an eventful chapter... philosophy's tested, battles, and a few other things potentially. Well, I hope you all enjoy! And... I just want to put this, given the date is 20/1/17, and a certain... I am politically biased by liberal thinking her, a certain orange clown is being brought into power, I just simply want to wish everyone the best of luck getting through the next four years, I don't want any comments or the like over this, I am simply stating my personal opinion that things are changing, and not all of them will be for the better now. Anyway, on with the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 18

"BARA!" Aurora yelled, finally managing to get her entire frame facing the right way before she charged towards the Predacon who now held the newest member of their groups snout in his jaw, causing a muffled cry to come from the pastel blue, purple and green femme Baryonyx as she thrashed, trying to get him to let go, but only resulting in the mech's fangs sinking deeper and causing more damage to her own metallic snout, the metal buckling and groaning under the force.

Before she could act further though in getting Skyquake off Bara, Rya rammed his side, her own golden horns slamming harshly against the metal, the force causing it to buckle on impact, the force from the blow and pain the unprecedented strike caused forcing him to let go, allowing Bara to fall to the ground and shuffle away haphazardly as her long clawed arms reached forwards so that the claws could clamp around her own maw.

The force of the ram also sent the far larger mech skidding across the polished surface by a good few yards, ending in him almost falling on his side, but his left wing had snapped out on instinct and pushed him back upright.

Aurora attacked then, slamming her left front paw into the ground and using the burst of momentum she'd gained to spin her entire frame around, causing her back right leg to slam harshly into his side, the tail quickly wrapping around the mechs neck cables and locking around the thick mass with the help of the longest scythe on her tail locking under one of the ridged metal plates which ran down the length of her tail.

The force of the initial blow had sent the mech of balance again, and with a sharp pull of her tail, she pulled him right off the ground.

"Get down!" She shouted, using her still anchored paw to spin a full 360, the larger Predacon flailing as he tried to squirm free, before her tail unlatched itself, and the force of the spin sent him crashing through the thick double doors of the room, causing them to erupt in a shower of splinters and force them off their hinges in the process, the massive wooden doors then crashing down on top of where the green, white and orange Predacon had come to rest, the impact of his collision with the opposite wall having dazed him significantly.

With him out for the count for the time being, Aurora turned again and quickly made her way to where Rya was already looking Bara over, the femme's optics where screwed up tight as Rya carefully examined the bite wound, when Aurora came to a stop she shifted into her bipedal state, kneeling down to take in the damage herself. "Rya, get her to Emily, I'll handle Skyquake."

The smaller already damaged red and black femme nodded, helping the wounded Baryonyx up and leading her out through the shattered remains of the door.

A bellowing roar had Aurora spinning around to face Skyquake, who was upright once more, wings spread wide in an obvious show of aggression. In response she transformed back into her Predacon form, raising herself up on her haunches, easily towering high above with her crown of metallic feathers almost brushing the high ceiling, as she released her own deafening bellow to try and dissuade him from charging again, but instead of heeding her obvious warning he released a thundering bellow of his own and rushed at her anyways.

She reared back fully, horns scrapping the ceiling as her optics trained downwards on his encroaching form, before sending her full weight down on him with her front two legs when he was close enough, pinning him to the floor and actually shattering the marble beneath for the sheer force of her mass crashing back to the ground with such a harsh impact, before she lowered her helm right into his faceplates and she gave another deafening bellow to warn him off from attacking again, all four jaws unhinging to show the away of lethal fangs normally hidden between them.

Once again it had no effect, a swift movement from the corner of her eye was the only thing that alerted her as to what was about to happen, and she wasn't able to react in time to avoid being struck by the large club like tail of the Predacon she had previously pinned. The force of it sent her crashing through the wall beside the already shattered doors, allowing Skyquake to leap up and rush out of the room, seemingly intent on tracking down Rya and Bara.

"Shit!" Aurora cursed, using her mass to throw herself to her feet and chasing after him, easily eating up the distance as she darted round corners, her frame snapping quickly into harsh angles for her to take the equally sharp corners which littered the palace, finally she rounded a corner in time to see Sonic facing down Skyquake from the end of the hall.

The much smaller storm cloud grey and sky blue mech had his scythe in one servo, and spinning at such a velocity it was a mere blue blur as the tinted blade on the end developed a fierce glow, which in turn caused the air around to generate a fierce hurricane force gale directed straight at the far larger charging Predacon. The harsh winds quickly began taking a toll on the Predacons speed, causing him to slow dramatically.

At that moment Soundwave came running around the corner, disguised in her mech Cybertronian form, rushing Skyquake while he was partially suspended in mid-air and ramming him to the ground into the corridor which he stood at the junction of.

Before he could so much as twitch, she'd taken full control of his mental state, causing his frame to lock tight and lay still in that same position.

Aurora caught up to them at that moment, further pinning Skyquake under her right paw as her own pants eased out slightly. "Many thanks Sound, and you too Sonic, hadn't thought of that." She admitted, twisting her helm down to look into the bright red optics of the predacon. "Strength classes are quite hard to take down."

Soundwave huffed, but the visor blocked it from being heard by those around her, sitting up from where she'd ended up straddling the mech, she instead placed her own flat pede onto his chassis.

Once in that position, she released her control on the now Predacon Seeker general, and using a voice clip from Megatron she'd recorded she addressed the mech. **"Stand down Skyquake."**

For a moment he just starred up at her, before his optics drifted over his surroundings, before snapping onto Aurora, a low growl building up before the mech finally spoke. "Soundwave, what are you doing here? With this… abomination of a femme?" He growled out.

Soundwave glanced at Aurora, who's only response was to raise an optic ridge at the mech, before she glanced over to Soundwave. "Nothing wrong with you showing your true colours to him in my book."

That seemed to confuse him, as his attention went right back to the dark grey disguised femme, only to widen as she began removing her visor, the base of it lifting up, but the glass still hiding her features as she spoke. "One shouldn't insult their host Skyquake, Aurora did save you from the fate of being a member of the undead after all." She 'tsked', giving him a taunting and almost coy look from behind her visor as she continued to apply pressure to his chassis.

His purely red optics widened to a point that Aurora had to wonder if they'd just roll out of their sockets. "W-w-what trickery is this?!" He growled, trying to thrash again, but before he could, Aurora decided enough was enough, and took control of the oil flowing within his hydraulics, forcing him to remain locked in place, causing the mech to in turn stare up at the two femmes in unbidden surprise.

Sonic stepped up then, looking up to his older sister as he kept his scythe at the ready. "Now what do we do with him? We can't let him leave." He pointed out.

Aurora sent her younger brother a questioning look. "Sonic, surely you realised I fully intend to welcome him into our ranks. Otherwise I would've just served him up for dinner tonight." She responded with an oddly sick smile on her features.

Skyquake growled again, glaring instead at Soundwave. "State your designation imposter! I want to know exactly who you are so that I may punish you fully for impersonating a superior officer!" He growled.

Soundwave chuckled, fully pulling her visor away and placing it in her subspace as her frame began to distort, rippling before their optics as her Predacon bipedal form came into full effect, her wings spreading out slightly for effect as her twin tails coiled and flicked behind her, the grabbers on the end snapping shut a few times to draw his attention to them for a moment. "There is no impersonator Skyquake, I stand before you as I truly am, my true designation you may ask? Sounada, not Soundwave, and I, am a double agent. One who has used her abilities to warp the minds of others to not only mistake me as a mech, but a completely mute, loyal to a fault, practically drone like being, all in the name of supplying information, and using my abilities to sabotage the Decepticons, without anyone, ever, being the wiser." She taunted. "Oh, and… I wouldn't go and insult one of the last living Titan's if I were you." She added, gesturing with her horned helm towards Aurora. "They have a nasty habit of eating those who tick them off." She warned, grinning when Aurora caught on and allowed her ocean blue forked glossa to slither out and lick her thin lipplates.

"That Vehicon _was_ _delicious_ … speaking of which, Sound, Rya was able to recover Starscream's arm for you to use as a chew toy. It should still be in what's left of my room…" Aurora spoke up. "Now then, leave this mech to me, if he knows what's good for him, he'll behave." The tone of her voice was a low growl, a clear warning to the mech not to try anything.

Skyquake was now starring at the two conversing in a mix of fury, horror, and shock. Furious at the fact it seemed that Soundwave… was actually a spy, right from the beginning, and the horror and shock, was more focused on the apparent appetite of a creature, meant to be extinct, yet standing before him, taking the form of a femme which looked like she had been spliced with a Predacon. And then there was the lanky mech standing between the two with the scythe which looked like it belongs in a horror vid, what with its shape being so jagged and stained with spilled energon, if the blue tint was to be believed.

Soundwave then stepped back, removing her clawed pede from the mechs chassis, but Aurora's own pede was still pressing him fully into the ground, causing a great deal of discomfort for the mech, likely because his wings were being pressed against the unyielding surface beneath him.

Sonic glanced up at Aurora one more time before letting off an aggravated sigh and walking off. "I'll go warn Rya to keep her uncle away from him for a few years!" He shouted.

Aurora chuckled as she turned her helm round to watch him go. "Much obliged Sonson!" A moment later she ducked to avoid a shuriken aimed directly at her helm. "Love you too!" She teased, a taunting grin on her features as the lanky mech stalked off.

Finally she turned back to Skyquake. "So, that a big enough processor frag to get you to behave?" She asked her tone of taunting remaining in place.

He growled in response, cursing her out internally as she finally removed her own pede from his chassis, and mobility seemed to become possible within his limbs.

"Also, you are aware that you're still in your beast form, correct?" She asked him as she took a step back, she was acting far too casual for Skyquake not to feel like she was hiding something, and upon her question, his helm snapped downwards to take in his own frame.

Four thick pedes, each ending in three large and flat claws, similar to his bipedal forms pedes, greeted his vision, and between them, a row of white ridges which was framed by his primarily green frame all the way along to the spiked club like tail which laid limp across the floor someway off.

He turned his helm, finding the that the walls of this strange place where reflective enough for him to easily make out is own helm, wide red optics shone back at him as he took in the six horns which displayed themselves proudly on the sides of his now more triangular shaped helm, and the jagged metal which formed an almost external row of fangs. His helm was in turn attached to a relatively thick neck, the horns continuing down the now much more dexterous neck in pairs, before seeming to shorten enough for him to lay fully on his backstrut.

His optics then snapped to the four digit clawed servo which appeared in front of his vision, his growl was ignored as the servo snapped down, wrapped around on of the pieces of metal which formed the ridges which donned his chassis, with one harsh and unexpected tug, the underside of his Predacon helm was slamming into the floor, now lying on his front from the body slam she'd given him.

"There, now, get up." She growled, taking a step back, turning and beginning to walk down the corridor. "We need to get some food in you, you know, so I don't have to haul your starved ass about."

Her back was turned to him, and in a mere moment, he lunged, fully intending to offline the femme.

Not a moment into the leap, and a sharp impact landed on the side of his helm, he felt something be sliced clean from the side of his helm, and heard it clang to the floor a moment after his own frame slid down to the floor in a daze.

How had she…?

Her helm was tilted slightly so he could see her profile, the deceitfully delicate optic ridge raised in challenge as the rest of her features remained stoic, the darker blue slit of her visible optic glaring at him slightly as a frown began to develop. "Surely you have a higher level of processor capacity than that? The walls are like mirrors, even without my senses, it is impossible for you to launch a sneak attack upon me." She warned, her tail, that long bull whip like appendage flicked so as the flat end slammed into the ground, a he became acutely aware of what had struck him, and the horn which now lay prone on the ground next to his still unmoved helm, the stump burned like as if it was set alight, but he did not give into it, he was far more versatile than that, but now at least he knew at least one area of his new frame he would have to defend.

A growl was his only response, before a new thought struck him, one which felt like a blow far harsher than the one she had delivered, and directly into his spark, so potent in fact, that it forced him to double over himself, clutching as best as he could at his chassis as his spark began beating wild and feverous around in his chassis.

Almost instantly he felt servos against him, causing him to lash out, his fangs found purchase and cut deep, resulting in a sharp hiss to leave the large blue femme as an incredibly hot liquid trickled into his mouth, burning his glossa on contact and forcing him to let go as the liquid began to cool.

His optics locked on the silver liquid dripping from her now punctured wrist, which she held close to her chassis.

But her expression wasn't one of rage, but sympathy? "Easy there… Easy…" Her murmured voice was joined with her other servo moving back and running down the side of his helm, he couldn't phantom why, but his helm turned into the soft touch, strangely enjoying it.

After a moment though, his spark's pain came back full force, resulting in his frame spasaming and shaking as he tried fruitlessly to work out what was wrong.

Until it finally clicked.

He couldn't feel his twin, the other half of his spark, wasn't… there…

From there, he could feel nothing, other than being minutely aware that the femme, Aurora, had moved him full onto his side and was now trying to get his attention.

Other blurry figures appeared in the small slit of vision his almost closed optics provided, but making out any of them proved impossible, as he finally succumbed to the agony his spark was putting out on him.

Aurora nodded to Razor once the green, white and orange Predacon slipped into unconsciousness, her younger brother nodded back, moving and grabbing the large Predacon around the middle, hefting the front half of the mech off the ground so it was only his hind claws which scrapped across the floor.

Emily moved in behind, following Razor's lead and hefting up his lower half, Aurora following behind the two as they carried him towards the Green House.

Emily had only just started treating Bara when Aurora had called for assistance, much to her non-biological twins chagrin.

But with the damage Skyquake had done to her wrist, heavy lifting was out of the question until she got it seen to.

Then again having Skyquake in Emily's greenhouse, surrounded by a plethora of hostile plants was certainly not a better idea. Add that to the fact that he'd also be surrounded by her siblings, and it was just asking for another brawl to break out, then Emily would have Skyquake's ass for damaging her plants. That was the absolute last thing that she needed to happen at the moment. It would make it far harder to integrate him into their little group, which Liara told her, was vital to the continuation of the plan… so it had to be done.

So instead she called the procession to a stop, turning towards her brother. "Let's take him to the kitchen instead Razor. He's probably famished by now and the last thing we need is for him to try eating any of Emily's flowers."

Razor nodded, Emily not commenting as she switched her glare from Aurora to Skyquake and back again every few seconds. Razor turned and steered Emily, who was supporting Skyquake's back end, into the main kitchen which was thankfully empty of Rya and Cliffjumper, who'd developed a habit of eating at whatever time of the day they felt like doing so.

"Thank you. Leave him with me and go keep Cliff entertained so these two don't run into one another and start trying to kill each other."

Her siblings just nodded wordlessly and left her alone with Skyquake ,who was completely still. If not for the way his sides were expanding with each vent, one might think he was actually still dead. Luckily she could both see, and hear it easily. And of course the best way to wake someone up in her opinion was to chuck some water at them.

She quickly drew moisture from the air and formed a large sphere of water in her clawed servo, then chucked it at Skyquake's dragonic helm with deadly accuracy, it impacted his helm with a loud splash that splattered up over his helm, while some pooled around his chin on the floor.

His bright red optics instantly popped wide open, a started snarl escaping him as he tried pushing himself up from the floor, only to topple over because of the damage he'd sustained in their previous fight, and the fact he tried to stand upright.

"You're not going to be moving much at all in that state Skyquake. Calm yourself and collect your thoughts before making another rash decision." She declared.

He forced himself to stand with a thundering growl, righting himself before sloppily lunging at her in a clumsy move that she quickly sidestepped, which sent him crashing into another wall. She sighed as she watched him smash a hole clean through it, which would put Razor in a bad mood when he had to fix it again.

"You are getting nowhere Skyquake. I don't want to fight, or hurt you right now. I just want to talk."

He spun around with an enraged bellow. "Where is my twin then?! Why can't I feel him?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" The final question was an all-out roar, but at no point did Aurora so much as flinch, only absently rubbing the still leaking puncture wounds on her wrist.

"He is well Skyquake. You simply cannot feel him because your bond severed when you perished."

Her revelation had him stalling out in what would ultimately have been another pointless attempt to charge at her, leaving him staring at her with optics so wide that it would've been comical in any other situation. "Wh-What? I couldn't have…"

"You died." She repeated in a much gentler tone, so as not to appear callous and uncaring about his situation. "You perished during the fight with Bumblebee and Optimus Prime, then, today, Starscream brought you back to life with Dark Energon, which I have since purged from your systems... I cannot sugar coat this truth with fancy words, simply Skyquake, you perished, and Starscream used Dark Energon to reanimate your corpse in an attempt to have an undead soldier to take out Megatron."

"Brought me back to life? I do not understand what you are talking about! And that slime! I should of offlined that vermin when I last had the chance!" He growled again, slamming his front clawed pede into the red stone brick floor.

Instead of answering him she gestured at the large table in the centre of the room which by some unknown miracle hadn't been destroyed in his fruitless attempts to charge her. "I can explain everything, but first you must eat in order to strengthen your new body. Being resurrected is never easy, and it often leaves the resurrected weak for a few days."

The smaller predacon huffed and inadvertently blew a cloud of smoke out of his nostrils, which seemed to take him aback for a moment, but instead of focusing on that he flared his plating and growled again. "I do not need sustenance femme! What I need is for you to tell me what the frag is going on! If I died Dreadwing should have died with me and yet you are telling me that he still lives? How?"

"My Aunt is keeping him alive for now."

His optics widened. "What?"

Her tail flicked out around her raised ankle joints as she gestured at the table once more. "Please sit and I'll explain everything I can." She waited until he limped over and sat down on the opposite of the table that she was on, ignoring the seats which were arranged due to his form being incompatible, it was a start. "Before I say anything, I would just like to say that this situation is on no way favourable for any of us here. It's a big change to bring a new member into our little fold, and it can cause a lot of tension for all involved. So I would appreciate it if you at least tried not to stir up trouble."

Those bright red optics, remained narrowly locked on her faceplates while she spoke, the mech watching not speaking even a single word to acknowledge or agree to her terms. Maybe this was going to be more difficult than she had thought? Then again if she was good at anything it was getting others to agree to her terms, be it through her serpent's tongue, or other means.

She decided to start by being truthful, yet not giving him the entire truth which was preferable until she could deduce whether he was going to prove trustworthy or not. And if he proved not to be… well she'd have to figure something out, which he probably wouldn't like. "I will lay this out on the table first, we, are beings without a faction, except one of us, and I myself, am an Autobot sympathiser, due to a family tie, but we ourselves, have our own goals at present. Make no mistake, we will not allow your comrades to enslave this planet or the universe. Such acts of hate and violence will ultimately lead to the downfall of all life in this world, as it did my own. You should also realize based off of what I just said, that I will not tolerate any acts of violence against any of my family members. Should you attack one with the intent to harm them, it will not be them you have to worry about, it will be me. I will defend my siblings, and you will fall at my claws." The threat was a drawn out growl, accentuated by flaring of both horns and metallic feathers, her wings would of done the same had Harp not strengthened her hold on them at that moment having picked up on the still strengthening cables desire to unfurl.

His optics narrowed further into a smouldering glare, but he said nothing as his long spiked club tipped tail flicked out in one tense motion that matched the way he spread his wings in another subconscious movement meant to intimidate.

She again, resisted the urge to meet his challenge by spreading her own wings to intimidate him with her wider wingspan, and instead she met his stare with a less hostile one. "Is that last part fully understood? If not, I could always hand you over to my… less than mentally stable twin, and allow her to have her fun turning you into a horseshoe crab. Actually… she's done far worse than that… I still can't look her straight in the optics sometimes when she's in one of her mad creating funks…" She actually minutely shuddered at the thought, remembering those creeper vines in particular.

He stiffened so minutely that it was obvious that he was very good at schooling his reactions normally, however he forgot to take his new appendages into consideration, his wings flared wide in clear surprise, and his tail stiffened and lifted into the air slightly.

She waited for some other sign that he was going to either get violent, or possible but less likely faint from the shock, which would have been, inopportune, but none came much to her relief. "I think you get the message, good, now then, questions? Oh! And where are my manners?!" Using her servo, she gestured at herself in way of introduction. "Aurora Sionvalusian Titan is my full name, but you may call me Aurora. But, don't use Ro, or… Rory... Those are taken by family and close friends... the last one only by one, who constantly sees fit to remind me of my 'mech' nickname." She remarked dryly upon thinking of their most recent addition next to Skyquake. Bara had made it a point to completely disregard her every time she told the baryonyx not to call her Rory… Irritating little fish eater… well… technically she was a fish eater too…

"What?"

"Bara has taken to calling me Rory, and she insists that it's my mech nickname. It doesn't seem to matter to her that I don't look like a mech!"

He just kind of stared at her with a tense expression, glancing at her moderately flat chassis and tapering hip plates. "You are obviously not a mech."

"Oh she knows that, but she does it because she has no mind to mouth filter. She's still very young and hyper… definitely hyper… Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself. You must have questions to ask me right? Hmm, that would be an understatement wouldn't it? Apologies for confusing you so much as I likely already have."

For a few long, tense moments, he just continued staring at her while he was apparently frozen in place, looking for all the world like he didn't know what to think or say. After another minute he shook his helm and asked the first question that was on his mind. "Where are we?"

She got up and turned to prepare some smoked salmon for them to eat, keeping her back to him while she multi-tasked between that and answering his question, her claws making quick work of the fish she'd retrieved from one of the large stone brick encased freezers, her claws easily decapitating the fish before moving on to strip its red flesh from the bones. "We are roughly twenty-five kilometers under South Africa, beneath the surface layers of the Earth. So a long way away from America, where you were brought back from the dead and chased my sibling around the shadow dimension like a crazy person, and effectively beat the seven bells out of her, while she beat the seven bells out of you. I'm assuming anyways, seeing as I resurrected you first and have yet to have a chance to talk to her because of this crazy fiasco involving you and I having a tussle, Sound revealing herself to actually be a member of my group, and can you stop growling at me? Sound really is just that good at what she does. She's never actually been on your side in all of this."

"So Soundwave is a double agent?" He asked to clarify, the snarl etched deep on his faceplates.

"Yes. And she's also a mother too. They should actually be arriving any week now, so long as they're not more Titan than Predacon… if they're Titan they're going to take their sweet time… I took trillions of years before I hatched!" Aurora grumbled, the next fishes head went a bit further, propelled by her harsher downwards slice.

Skyquake remained silent thereafter, watching intently as her servos seemed to accelerate in their motions, tail flicking from side to side as the kitchen top began decorated in fish scales and blood, whilst the bowl which sat next to her on the table was filled to the top within moments by the deboned fish flesh. It was done in mere moments, the pace she'd moved at warning him of lethal efficiency she had, her eight servo claws more like energon blades than claws.

Then, she spat a plume of blue tinted fire at it, causing the bowl to super heat and the kitchen top table to steam with evaporated fish as the salmon within the bowl was cooked.

After finishing up their meal Aurora turned and sat a bowl down in front of him, before taking a seat across from him, completely ignoring the searing heat which the bowl still resonated. She watched him stare at the smoked, slightly charred salmon she had prepared for him with obvious distaste, occasionally poking it with one of his claws, but not eating it.

"Oh for goodness sake mech. It's not going to jump out of the bowl and kill you. It's just fish! It only jumps when I want it to and that's a rarity." She snapped after a few minutes of him just glaring at the diced up fillets.

His optics slid up and narrowed on her form again, which honestly annoyed her to the point that she grabbed one of the salmon pieces and shoved it in his mouth, making him gag in response to that.

"See? It's not going to hurt you. Just chew and swallow and you'll feel a whole lot less grouchy." She growled, her patience already waning.

He glared at her with the back end of the fish still sticking out of his mouth.

She plucked one out of her own bowl and tossed it into her mouth and chewed it slowly to savour the flavour of it. "See? I can eat it and you can too. Just try it." She declared once she'd swallowed, so as not to come off as being too rude.

Instead of listening he spit the salmon onto the table, and further expelled the remnants by spitting on it as well.

Aurora just raised an irritated optic ridge at him. "Now that right there is just horrible table manners mech. You make the mess, you get to clean it, unless you completely destroy one of the palace walls, then that's Razor's job to fix."

Instead of doing so he slammed his front clawed pedes on the table, causing it to shake, but by some miracle not flip, he ignored this and instead shoved his helm into her faceplates "I do not care about table manners femme! I want to know what you meant about my twin! What did you mean when you said your Aunt is keeping him alive?"

She shrugged and pushed his helm away with a single servo. "Just what I said. My Aunt governs the forces of darkness and death, so she's basically stopping him from dying, you know seeing as she's basically the Grim Reaper."

"What is a Grim Reaper?"

"Basically, the being that is the Harbinger of Death, and pretty much decides when it's time for you to die. She's my Aunt as I've clearly stated."

"And your Aunt is keeping my twin alive? Why?"

"Because we need you two alive to accomplish the plan that she set in motion trillions of years before I even hatcherd. For that reason, she'll continue to keep him alive, just as I brought you back so that you could play your own part in her grand scheme. She doesn't always tell me every detail of her plans, what with her visits being very short."

He stood up straighter and flared his armour and wings once more. "And if I refuse to help you?"

"Then I'll make you a deal. I'll give you five months to learn how to use this new body, and after that you'll fight me. If you can defeat me then I will let you go back to the Decepticons and your twin, but if you should lose then you will stay here with us. Until then you will help with any tasks I assign you, and you will co-exist peacefully with everyone else. Do you understand me? You can either accept this deal, or we can imprison you. We can't just let you go because you know too much as it is."

"But you already said if I can defeat you I am free to go." He pointed out gruffly.

She cocked her helm at him and popped another salmon into her mouth. "I did, and I will hold to my end of the bargain, albeit begrudgingly. Now, do these terms sound acceptable to you?"

After staring her down for a moment he nodded.

"I'm glad that we could come to an agreement. Now eat before you waste away into nothing."

He scowled at her and shook his helm back and forth rapidly. "I'd rather starve than ingest this filth!"

And just when she thought they were finding some suitable ground, and now he had to be difficult again… "Why must the males of every species I've ever met be so stubborn? Testosterone is a powerful thing… not to mention infuriating sometimes, and incredibly vexing… Must you males posture and try and show yourselves as higher than thou? Because obviously all you're doing is making yourself look like a pouting child, throwing a tantrum because you don't want to do something that is crucial to your survival. If you truly wish to starve yourself and waste away, then please do so outside in the external area of the palace, that way we don't have to deal with your decaying matter. I assure you that it is a repulsing smell that I do not want infesting my home."

From the look on his face it seemed highly probable that he wanted to throttle her…

She sighed. "We're getting absolutely nowhere at the moment… Would you rather keep going until you drop dead of starvation? Because that's what's going to happen if you keep being a petulant child about this! Now I'll only ask you to eat your food one last time! If you don't do it I'll have to knock you out, drag you to my twin and have her work out a way of burrowing a tube directly into your furnace so we can feed you. That way you don't have to worry about the taste. Does that sound more agreeable? Because I assure you that you're missing out on the taste, and it is divine. After sampling the finer points of human cuisine I'll never go back to eating rocks and the like again… well, unless there is no other option in terms of sustenance."

He bared his sharp serrated denta and hissed at her, the sound rising into a loud snarl as his wings spread wide again.

But she just kept eating, not feeling the least bit intimidated by his obvious aggression when she knew full well he couldn't actually seriously harm her, the bite he'd made on her wrist had already stopped leaking her silver lifeblood, and she was not in the mood to let him simply get in another lucky shot like that on her. There was also the fact he had no idea how to use his new body, while she was well versed in all aspects of how to fight in any form. "Eat." She commanded with a derisive flick of her uninjured wrist. "Or I will take you to Emily and we can force feed you."

His optics were practically burning with death threats directed at her, open hostility predominant in them, though he did finally relent and start eating when his furnace rumbled loudly with hunger. They both ate in silence from that point on, him obviously not being inclined to ask her anymore questions, and she was still trying to collect her thoughts at the moment.

First things first, she needed to have Razor get to work on making him a room somewhere in the palace, preferably far from the nursery where Sound's hatchlings would be spending most of their time. Razor had just finished Bara's room, though the baryonyx hadn't moved into her new quarters yet, so for now if Razor was alright with it, Skyquake could stay there and Bara could continue rooming with him until he made their newest arrival a room of his own, or another for Bara if the mech chose to remain in the place first given to him.

She needed to get that all sorted out as soon as possible, then she needed to have a conversation with Emily about giving Bara her element. The femme needed it to be able to fully defend herself against Skyquake who wouldn't be getting his until he proved that he was at least somewhat trustworthy.

With that thought in mind she stood and gestured for Skyquake to follow her after he'd finished his meal, and he surprisingly did so without fighting her on it at all. The two of them entering the corridor and making their way to the greenhouse, where upon entering Emily was tending to the nasty bite wound on Bara's snout which she seemed none-too-happy to have to sit through, while Razor stood off to the side watching like a silent sentinel. They all looked up when she walked in with the bulkier predacon following her, even now though, Razor remained the largest of them, his height leaving him still over two helms taller than Skyquake.

As expected Razor and Emily leered at Skyquake for good reason, but before she could enquire about Bara's wellbeing the femme in question shot up from the bed she'd been laying on, releasing a thundering roar as she charged Skyquake and grabbed him by the throat before he could react, then she twisted and slammed him into the floor, making him release a startled bellow as she dug the sharp claws of her foot into his soft underbelly.

"BARA!" Emily yelled as she jumped right into the one sided fight, grabbing a hold of Bara under her arms, and using her more dexterous bipedal form to pull the other femme who was still in her dinobot form, off of the fallen mech.

Skyquake sluggishly got to his peds, leaking from his snout and underbelly as he bared his fangs and snarled at his attacker, who only returned it with a deafening one of her own. Aurora quickly got between them and pushed him back, while Razor used his body to create a barrier between them to keep each from attacking the other.

When neither relented in their attempts to get at the other, Aurora spun and released an audio piercing screech that had them all ducking to cover their audios. "ENOUGH! I will not have such actions in my palace! Bara! Control your temper femme! If I see you instigate another fight like this any time soon, I will have you quarantined in you room!"

"Goddammit Ro! Every time you do that I swear I can't hear for a month!" Emily complained once the sound had faded.

Instead of commenting, she gestured towards Bara who was now looking dazed and confused. "I want you to confine her for now Razor. Skyquake needs to be treated, and after I get him settled into his temporary quarters I'll be back to discuss something important with Emily."

Her brother nodded, nudging Bara with his side to get her to snap out of the daze she was in and move, while he kept himself placed on the side that kept him between her and Skyquake, whom Aurora ushered away from the doorway to prevent any more spats.

When they left the room she turned and pushed him down onto one of the beds, then gestured Emily over to assess his wounds.

She sighed while Emily was taking care of him. "I need a stiff drink after this…"

Emily stopped dressing Skyquake's wound to scowl at her. "Not too much, Razor's gonna have a conniption fit if you take any more walls out this week."

"Yeah… Yeah…" Aurora grumbled, rubbing the plates of blue metal which sat just before her horns, where her temples would be if she was in her human form. Today was just getting worse and worse. "Where's Rya?" She enquired, having noticed that Rya hadn't thrown any fuss either.

Emily shrugged. "Her uncle came and picked her up, took her back to her room." Emily responded, knowing better than to let Skyquake know who their Autobot resident was.

Aurora just nodded, moving to slump down against one of the vegetation covered walls, being mindful of her wings and Harp as she did so, resulting in her more leaning on her right side than her actual back strut.

* * *

Bara tensed as she stood between Aurora and Emily, the smaller femme all but lost as she stared at the glowing lake of water before her, white flowers blooming under the surface and seeming to be what illuminated the entire water eroded marble cave. She wasn't sure why she'd been brought here, or what was going to happen, but Emily assured her that she didn't have anything to be afraid of. After everything that had happened today she wasn't so sure about that, if anything she was on edge after being attacked by that male, Skyquake, and the subsequent fight that had broken out when she'd seen him again.

Now they had her in this cave, and she had no idea what was going to happen. She just stared at the glowing surface of the lake, while the two taller femmes stood on either side of her quietly, until Aurora nudged her hind end.

"Step forward and hold your servo out over the surface of the water, and do not be afraid. This is something that must be done in order for you to be able to defend yourself better."

For a moment she just stared at the tall light blue femme uncertainly, but then Emily nudged her other side and she felt a strange sense of comfort at the older femme's presence. It made her feel secure enough to do as she'd been instructed, stepping forward to hold her servo out over the glowing surface, which rippled as a silver tendril rose from its' depths.

She nearly flinched back, but a servo steadied her. "Calm yourself Bara, it will not harm you. Just breathe and keep calm, otherwise it will make the process more difficult."

Bara gave a curt nod, remaining as still as possible as the tendril wrapped around her arm and began moving through the gaps of her arm and onwards towards her chassis and the rest of her frame. When it reached her chassis she felt a slight pinching sensation that was mildly uncomfortable, but her attention was drawn back to the visible tendril still wrapped around her arm when it suddenly turned invisible. She was so interested in what was going on, that she didn't see the worried look that Aurora and Emily exchanged behind her.

As soon as it'd started the tendril withdrew and slid back beneath the surface of the water, leaving her standing and staring at where it once was. She wasn't really sure what all of this mean, or what was happening even, but something inside her felt a little different than before. She didn't know what it was, but it seemed like a tangible force that was thrumming from somewhere in her chassis, like pulsating waves.

Without prompting she focused on the new feeling, unsure of what would happen, but being curious enough to see what would happen. No sooner had she done so, then a startled shout sounded from behind her, followed by two startled yells that had her whipping around to see what had caused it, only there was nothing there anymore.

She took a hesitant step forward, panning her head around to try finding the other two femmes. "Emily? Rory? Where did you go?"

"Up here Bara."

Helm tilting back, she took in the forms of Aurora and Emily laying on the… ceiling…? Both were laying, Emily with her back pressed against it, and Aurora laying face first, both with their limbs spread out, one of Emily's legs laying haphazardly over Aurora's aft, while Aurora's elbow was digging into Emily's jaw, which was still spread in a wide grin regardless. "How did you two get on the ceiling?"

Aurora mumbled something into the ceiling, but she had no idea what she said so she looked to Emily who still had that manic grin on her face. "You put us up here Bara." The red and green femme explained.

She wasn't entirely sure what that meant, and she was pretty sure that she actually didn't do anything at all… "Um, no I didn't."

"Yes you did Bara. It's one of the main aspects of those who have magnetism as their element."

"What's a magnitim?"

"Magnetism," Emily corrected the smaller femme with a chuckle, "is an invisible force which acts upon some materials, however, in your case, you are able to manipulate the magnetic fields of all matter, just as Ignial did."

Ignial? Who was that? She hadn't heard any mention of someone called that… "Who is Ignial? I haven't heard of him before. Where is he?"

"He... Died some time ago, taking a bullet for Rya, he was your element predecessor. And I never got to meet the bastard!" Emily explained with a pout.

"Oh… is that why I haven't heard of him before?"

"Yes. Rya is still hurting over his death and she gets really testy when someone mentions him. It'd probably be a good idea if you're careful not to even speak his name when she's around. It hurts her."

"Ok, I'll be careful not to mention him around her. I don't want to upset her or anything like that."

"Good. Now as much as I like being up on the ceiling you should probably get us down from here."

She just blinked up at Emily, because she had absolutely no idea how they got up there in the first place really, and she sure as hell didn't know how to get them back down when she didn't know how she put them up there to begin with! "I don't even know how I put you up there to begin with…"

"It's easy! Just think of us falling on our asses, or in this cases faces, and we should drop like a ton of rocks!"

"Ok." She shrugged, and then she tried picturing what Emily had instructed, even as Aurora started shouting into the ceiling. Instead of paying it any mind she focused on the two femmes laying pinned against the ceiling, and then she specifically pictured the two hurdling down to the ground.

No sooner had she pictured it the two suddenly shot towards the ground.

"Bara! Levitate! Levitate us! DON'T LET US HIT THE GROUND!" Aurora suddenly screeched, curling up in a ball as she dropped and trying to spin in time so as to prevent her wings hitting anything, her optics screwed up tight as memories suddenly shot back into her processor, paralysing her.

Bara started because of the sheer urgency those words were flung at her with, something inside instinctively knew what to do while she herself did not. Energy surged through her, exploding out from her in an invisible wave that she couldn't see but could somehow still feel as it wrapped around the two and stopped their descent just short of them hitting the ground. It was a strange sensation, like being able to feel them, their weight, everything, all without even having to touch them.

They hovered over the floor until she suddenly lost control of her power and dropped them the last foot or so. Aurora landed on her back with a groan, unfurling only slightly out of the incredibly tight ball she'd ended up in, while Emily simply face planted with a maniacal laugh, having not done a thing to prevent the impact like Aurora had. She just stared at the two while contemplating everything that had just happened. None of it really made sense to her.

Then to startle her even more someone suddenly started cussing, but it didn't sound like either femme.

"Gah! Dammit Aurora! Get off of me!"

Aurora immediately shot up, turning around to regard the small light blue femme lying on the floor. "Mum! Are you okay?"

The smaller femme, with wings on her back, and a slight and fragile frame, looked up at Aurora with a glare. "Oh I'm just fine! Now get up, put me back on, and take a hundred and fifty laps around Russia, you're getting fat again!"

"Mum…" Aurora whined.

Was… she really whining like that? Bara had personally never seen Aurora being scolded before so she wasn't sure. She could at least work out that the femme laying there was actually that brace that Aurora always wore, and with said brace now out of the way, the large chunk missing from the larger blue femmes wings where evident, a shudder went through Bara instinctively at the sight of the crippled limbs, her own bat like wings tucking close to her sides And shoulders.

Emily finally got up and came over to where she was standing, watching the spectacle going on with a devious grin. "Oh she is… Harp has a way of scolding Ro and making her look like a child, but that kind of comes with her being her mom." Emily whispered into Bara's concealed audio, a bright smirk on her faceplates as Emily then stretched, twisting her neck cables from side to side before reaching down and flicking a rock out from under the gold band which ran around her abdominal platting. "Damn marble, always chipping and getting lodged somewhere." She grumbled to herself.

She scooted closer and leaned up to whisper in the taller femme's audio. "That's her mom? But Rory's big, and Harp is small. How did she lay a big enough egg for Rory to hatch out of?"

Emily busted out laughing so hard that she couldn't answer her, and in doing so drew the attention of the other two femmes.

Aurora narrowed her eyes on her non biological twin. "What are you laughing about?"

"Bara… asked… how Harp… laid you…!"

Aurora and Harp looked to one another then back to Emily and Bara with loosely hanging jaws before Aurora got out. "How could she? Harp's too small! And she adopted me after I saved her from being human food!" Aurora explained.

She cocked her head at the two. "What's adopted?"

"It means she took me in when I was a hatchling. I was no bigger than a Wilderbeast actually."

"What's a Wildabest?"

"It's an animal that lives in mass on the African Savannah."

"What's an African Savannah?"

Aurora slapped her forehead, shaking her head back and forth while Emily continued laughing in the background, and Harp was just staring at her with her bright blue eyes. "Aurora you're confusing the poor thing! She doesn't know her hind end from her head in this world! Let's take it slow with her for now." Harp finally stated, glancing over at the still horribly confused Baryonyx.

"I know that mum." The larger light blue femme sighed tiredly. "We'll explain more to you later Bara. For now, we really need to get to Ukraine to intervene on Breakdown's behalf."

"Who's Breakdown?"

"You'll see when we get there." Aurora muttered as she gestured for Harp to crawl up onto her back to brace her wings again, then she quickly dove into the lake and disappeared.

"Don't get slagged up in there Ro!" Emily called out before the ripples faded. Not a moment later a torrent of water crashed down solely on Emily's helm drenching the femme, but she seemed unperturbed if the widening of her smile was any indication. "Love you too Rory!" A much colder blast hit her that time.

* * *

Cliffjumper wasn't exactly sure why Aurora had let Bara come on this mission when she'd only been with the group for a few weeks. Not that he was very different in that regard, but he had prior training as a Cybertronian, whereas Bara hadn't even really been sentient in her previous life, well compared to the of sentience she had now. They were all currently tasked with watching, not actively fighting or doing much of anything this time, so there wasn't much that could go wrong really. Besides, what better way to learn than through field experience? As long as she stuck close to them everything would be perfectly fine.

At least Razor had managed to show her how to shapeshift into a mouse, so they didn't have to worry about her getting caught for wandering around in her dinobot, or organic dinosaur form. At present time, Soundwave was acting as a mental link between them so that they could talk to one another, otherwise he might just go mad from the silence.

 _"_ _So Bara… how are you handling the modern world?"_

 _"_ _It's a weird place. I don't understand how anything works."_

 _"_ _Eh, you'll get used to it! And you got us to help you learn how things work!"_

 _"_ _Cliffjumper?"_

 _"_ _Yeah?"_

 _"_ _You're not like the others, and I heard you were mated to a female called... Arsa? Where is she?"_

He snickered at the way she'd butchered Arcee's designation. _"Her name is Arcee, and she isn't my mate yet, she's my intended… future mate."_ As they spoke he made his way towards the dissection table, bypassing Breakdown who was laying partially dissected on the table, just the thought made the copper coloured mouse's spine shiver.

He hopped up onto the table to look at the tools they had, and Bara followed along right after him. She cocked her head at the tools displayed, probably confused about what they were and what each did. _"Arcee…"_

 _"_ _Yup! She's kind of cold when she meets somebot new, but she has her nice moments too. I love her more than life itself."_

 _"_ _What's love?"_

 _"_ _Good luck with that one Cliff! Gah! That's smarts!_ " Emily suddenly screeched through the link, and when he and Bara looked over at where she and Aurora were, she was laying on the floor next to a wire that had a chunk taken out of it, while Aurora stood there staring at her, Emily's grey fur now slight singed and smoking.

 _"_ _Of course it hurt you idiot! That was five hundred and sixty volts of electricity suddenly introduced to your body! Why were you even trying to eat that!?"_

 _"_ _I wanted to find out why mice eat wires."_

 _"_ _I think your brain might've suffered more damage…"_ Aurora sighed tiredly.

 _"_ _You two act like an old married couple sometimes I swear..."_ Razor chuckled through the link.

 _"_ _I'm having a bad day Razor, do not make it worse!"_ Aurora snapped over the link, glaring at the brown furred mouse currently scurrying along one of the supporting I-beams of the tunnel like area they were in.

 _"_ _Noted."_

Bara wasn't really sure what they were arguing about, or what a wire was, or why Emily wanted to bite one, or even why it had shocked her. She knew what lightning was, but did they somehow put lightning in those little black line thingies? That was what a wire was right? Maybe she should try it too?

 _"_ _What'cha doin' Bara?"_ Emily asked, or more like sang.

When she looked up her heart… furnace… nearly stopped at the sight of a hairy black spider dangling in her face. She jolted back, mouth falling open in a scream that only echoed through the mental link between her and the others. _"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

It was so loud that it almost deafened everyone else, but before they could comment on that, all of them were suddenly sent rocketing towards the ceiling where they smacked into it and got stuck on it, along with Breakdown, who's bonds broke from the force and his frame went flying into the ceiling as well. The few humans that were present in the room released startled yells as they too ended up magnetized to the walls and ceiling as well.

 _"_ _Not again! Dammit Bara!"_

 _"_ _What the frag just happened?!"_

 _"_ _Bara magnetized everything to the walls!"_

The femme in question just looked up at the ceiling, where she' somehow stuck Aurora and the others to without meaning to. Aurora was clearly aggravated, which was audible from the cursing she was doing over the mental link, most of those words she wasn't sure the meaning of, but she had a good idea that none of them were pleasant if the fact that Emily was wincing meant anything. _"Whoops…"_

 _"_ _Bara? You okay down there?"_ Razor asked in concern, he was instead of the ceiling, stuck to the upper underside of the I-beam he'd been walking on, his brown fur perfectly camouflaged against the dank rusted metal.

She shook her head, still shaking a bit from the fright she'd been given, and nodded shakily. _"I-I think so…"_

 _"_ _Ok. You just need to calm down then. Take a deep breath."_

She did as he instructed, feeling distinctly guilty for losing control and sticking the others to the ceiling again… well Razor and Cliffjumper for the first time, but Emily and Aurora were going to end up sleeping above the rest of the world at this rate…

 _"_ _Um, I'll get you down… Just hold on!"_ Now how did she do that again? Just imagine them drifting back to the ground right? Ok she could do this!

Cliffjumper stared down at the young femme as her eyes closed in concentration, then he felt a field of tangible energy surrounding him, before he came free from the ceiling, as did the others, all four of them drifting back down to the floor, quickly followed by the rest of the inhabitants of the room, but Bara simply just let them all drop.

 _"_ _Oh sweet solid ground!"_ Aurora exclaimed once she was settled back on her paws.

 _"_ _Good job getting us down from there Bara!"_ Cliffjumper praised, moving over and bumping his side against hers.

 _"_ _Thanks Cliffjumper!"_ Bara responded, a bright smile somehow forming on her snout.

 _"_ _Well now that that's over with we need to be on the lookout for Bulkhead. He'll be here any minute."_ Aurora spoke up again, quickly scurrying off to a corner.

A sudden bang echoed right after those words were uttered, prompting her to jump with fright as her powers flared up and exploded out in another shockwave that had those that she'd just brought back down to ground level shooting right back up to the ceiling.

 _"_ _God ancients fragging dammit!"_

 _"_ _Ooooh Ro has a potty mouth!"_

 _"_ _I will beat you within an inch of your life with a fucking bronze cannon Emily if you say one more thing today!"_

 _"_ _Ro, easy there... going primal is the absolute opposite of what we need right now!"_ Razor tried to placate her, or tried to at least. It didn't really seem to be effective at the moment though.

A louder, more insistent bang echoed through the room, followed by the sound of something crashing to the ground. This time she managed not to panic and send things flying around the room, but she did duck out of sight as a tall, dark green, relatively round looking mech came lumbering into the room.

Bulkhead stopped short at the sight of the humans all stuck to the ceiling and walls. "What the…?" His optics roamed around the room, before coming to a stop on the berth where Breakdown had been. He approached it and looked around warily, as if expecting to be attacked., taking note of the broken restraints. "Maybe he escaped…"

Bara watched him looking for the mech that she currently had pinned face first against the ceiling. She looked up at Breakdown, and then switched to staring at Aurora inquisitively. _"I don't think he's going to find him."_

 _"_ _Even if he does find him it's not like he can get him down."_ Aurora remarked dryly.

 _"_ _Ok I'll drop him then!"_

 _"_ _Bara wait-!"_

But she had already pictured the mech falling to the ground, and his frame was immediately released from where she'd stuck it. Bulkhead didn't even see it coming until Breakdown crashed down on top of him.

"Ahhh! What The-?!" Bulk cursed as he was crushed under the weight of the other mech.

 _"_ _Bara! What did I just say?!"_

 _"_ _He had to get down somehow Rory!"_ She chirped happily.

 _"_ _Can't argue with the logic in that statement can ya Rory?"_ Emily goaded the other femme gleefully.

 _"_ _Call me that again Emily… I swear call me that again and not even the post-mortem will be able to find any trace of you!"_

 _"_ _Maybe we should be focusing on what we came here for?"_ Razor suggested.

 _"_ _Very well… We'll talk about this later!"_

When they focused back on Bulkhead and Breakdown, the former shoved the latter off of him, then stood up to stare down at the latter who was missing an optic, and had his chassis pried open thanks to the MECH soldiers. Then he held a servo out for Breakdown to take.

Breakdown just stared at it. "Wh-What are you doing?"

"Getting you out of here."

All he got in response to that was a blank stare.

"Yeah, I don't believe it either." Bulkhead responded to the obvious disbelief, but he kept his servo held out still.

Breakdown reached for it, hesitating briefly before actually taking it and allowing himself to be pulled up. He stumbled, clutching at his open chassis in pain.

"Can you walk?"

"I-I think so…"

The overhead alarm system went off at that moment, casting a red glow around the room as the two mechs looked around for a moment. "Can you run?"

Breakdown transformed his arm into a hammer. "Never run when you can fight!"

Bulkhead scowled and pushed the hammer out of his face. "Just keep that thing pointed away from me alright?" With that he turned and took off running down the corridor, leaving Breakdown to stare after him for a moment before he gave chase after the other mech.

Bara watched them go with wide eyes, specifically focusing on the hammer that used to be Breakdown's servo. Just like Razor's tail, only not with the addition of large blue spikes _"Oooh Razor! He has a hammer too!"_

 _"_ _Yeah I saw that Bara. But I think that's the last thing you should be concerned with. How about getting us down again so we can follow them?"_

 _"_ _Ok!"_

A chorus of startled yells echoed through the communicational link when she released them and let them plummet to the ground. _"BARA!"_

Cliffjumper pushed himself up from the ground with a shake of his head, eyeing Bara as she scurried up to them. _"Well Bara… having you around is going to make things a lot more interesting."_

 _"_ _What's ineresing?"_

 _"_ _Eh… you know what? Never mind! We've gotta go after Bulk_!" Cliffjumper respond, quickly scurrying away and out of sight of the dazed humans, quickly followed by the others as he took on a more canine countenance, ending up as a large copper Cocker Spaniel, he wasn't sure why he took the form, but the others quickly followed his lead, Bara and Razor becoming large black and orange Rottweiler's, and Emily and Aurora into large Saluki's.

 _"_ _Agreed. Please keep control of your abilities from here on out Bara?"_

 _"_ _Sure thing Rory!"_

Aurora grumbled couple curse words, temporarily forgetting that they could all be heard over the mental link between them. Even if she had realized she really wouldn't have cared, so she ignored everyone else and followed Bulkhead and Breakdown, and the others in turn followed after her.

It didn't take them long to catch up with their targets, or the other MECH operatives who had surrounded the two mechs both in vehicles, helicopters, and on the ground, and had opened fire on them.

They all took cover to avoid being hit by stray bullets which were raining down from all over the place, some ricocheting off of the two mechs' armour harmlessly. Once or twice they struck close to one of the group and startled Bara to the point that she almost panicked when one flew over her head. It was only when Razor pressed himself against her side that she felt a little safer and didn't send everyone in the area skywards.

 _"_ _So… are we supposed to help?"_

 _"_ _Why else would we be here Cliffjumper?"_ Aurora commented as two of the soldiers closest to them suddenly started choking up blood, before they fell to the ground, limbs still twitching and blood leaking from their eyes which had the blood vessels ruptured. "By the ancients this is a good stress reliever."

Cliffjumper could only stare at the dead humans in horror at what had occurred. Had she really just done that…?! _"Aurora! We're not supposed to harm humans!"_

 _"_ _Autobots may have agreed not to harm humans, but you haven't spent nearly as much time with them to know how they are. Some of them are every bit as dangerous and deserving of death as any Decepticon!"_ Aurora snapped, turning her glare at him for a moment before quickly taking out another soldier, at least he assumed so from the wolfish grin which came when the man's neck gave a resounding crack as he too fell to the ground.

He took a step away from her. _"But Aurora…"_

 _"_ _These men deserve to die, Sound give him an overview of all the things these guys have done."_

Before he could respond, images started flashing before his minds eye, all of them filled with guns rattling and humans, young, old, man, woman, even a few animals who'd just been defending their homes, all falling to the ground in pools of their own blood and of those around them, murders via other methods also appeared, but quickly vanished again, it all left a nauseating feeling in his currently canine gut, one which he doubted would leave him any time soon.

His head was whirling from the overload of images he'd just been assaulted with, and he could see some of the truth in what she spoke, but Prime's orders and beliefs were still something that he followed… so how could he just disregard human life like that? _"But... I... still..."_

 _"_ _Cliff, not all humans are worth protecting, some really do just deserve to die, trust me, we've had the displeasure of meeting thousands of them. I've known humans that are even worse than Megatron, some who used children in the most horrible ways, who kill their own family just for a title of Nobility. Some humans… don't deserve your sympathy."_ Razor spoke up, his own attention on Aurora, specifically her back, which upon further inspection from the Cocker Spaniel, had a notable dip in it that Emily did not bear, the fur far shallower there and the scars visible until they reached more densely packed fur.

 _"_ _What have you seen exactly?"_

 _"_ _More than anyone should. Just trust me Cliff, the world is a better place without some humans. It is a fact we have all had to acknowledge, to prevent our own demise at their hands."_ Aurora answered.

She didn't seem very inclined to say any more than that, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to hear anything else. It was true that there were people, and bots that only caused havoc with their very existence, who stove to invoke pain everywhere they went… and sometimes they couldn't be changed. But in a way he felt like using the power he was given against beings that couldn't protect themselves from it, was no better than when Megatron had bombed the youth sectors and killed all those sparklings that couldn't protect themselves. He didn't want to be like that, but he admitted that this situation was a little different. These humans had the ability to think rationally and make the choice to harm others, and they did it without hesitation. In a way they were just like the Decepticons too.

 _"_ _You kill Decepticons, and father said himself, these, are Decepticons, hidden away under human skin."_

Cliffjumper didn't respond, he couldn't respond, too at war with himself over the clashing philosophies of his Prime, and the ones he now found himself surrounded by.

 _"_ _Hey guys! I wanna try something!"_ Bara piped up then.

 _"_ _Full steam ahead Bara, just make sure not to accidently stick us to anything, and do not leave this cover, we cannot afford them seeing us in these forms."_ Aurora responded.

 _"_ _Got it Rory."_ This time Aurora's grumble was drowned out by the gun fire ahead of them, some of the MECH soldiers becoming more and more aware of their dwindling numbers.

Not a moment later, what seemed like an energy wave shot out from around where Breakdown and Bulkhead where, leaving the two to watch as the soldiers and vehicles who'd been previously attacking them, were flung away from them, the pulse ending once they'd travelled a significant distance.

Before they could charge again, the sound of incoming jets could be heard.

"Fall back everyone, no more needs to be done, Bulkhead can handle Starscream and Breakdown."

The urgency of Aurora's tone was surprising, but a wide sweep of the area, something Rya had taught him to do a few weeks prior, alerted him to the incoming cavalry for Bulkhead, led by Optimus.

That was all he needed to know to understand the currently Saluki Titan's urgency, the five of them quickly breaking away from the area, leaving behind an unknown number of fatalities.

They quickly removed themselves from the area, Bara going with Emily through a bush which was growing out of the side of a building, Aurora reluctantly jumping into a pool of stagnant water, Razor simply pulled himself into the ground, and Cliffjumper bit down on some rusted re-bar sticking out from a piece of broken concrete, easily teleporting away through the network and back to the palace, fully intending to go check on Bara before going to his own room, which had been put next door to Rya's, to meditate on what he'd found out today, maybe he'd enquire with Sonic if Skyquake had given him any trouble, which was a very likely thing, what with the mech being a high ranking, loyal to a fault, Decepticon general.

Yet, he still held confidence in Sonic's ability to keep the larger mech under wraps… how would be forever a mystery to Cliffjumper, what with Sonic looking like a lanky sapling against the old oak which he couldn't help but compare the seeker general to.

One thing he was dreading was the inevitable crossroad he and the seeker general would come to, the siblings were gonna try to keep them from bumping into one another, but he knew there was only so much they could do. The size of the palace made it a bit easier though.

* * *

Chernobyl

A silence hung in the area surrounding the Autobots, the Decepticons had all left the area a few minutes prior.

But that was barely registered.

"I… I didn't even notice…" Bulkhead mumbled, trying to look away from where a corpse lay suspended in the air by a cluster of jagged spikes of rock.

Corpses littered the area, some their bodies twisted and morphed into unnatural, bone breaking positions, others seemingly half plant as thorned vines burst from the camouflage armour and masks, wrapping tight around their victims.

Others seemed to of suffered quicker deaths, blunt force impacts with walls, crushed by flying vehicles, or by large pieces of concrete which had seemingly broken clear off the surrounding buildings, leaving large gaping holes in the dilapidated city.

Optimus turned his attention to Ratchet. "Any survivors?" He enquired as Ratchet ran a scan over the area.

"None… all deceased."

The silence lulled back then, the group trying to come to terms with the bloodbath around them.

"Alert Agent Fowler… he will contact the necessary…" He drifted off when something caught his optic by one of the bodies which had been twisted into a knot.

A small, mechanical, rat, with strange dragon fly like wings twitching on its back as it sniffed at the corpse.

The others quickly followed his attention, Bumblebee and Ratchet jolting back, whilst Bulkhead and Arcee stood their ground, activating their weapons.

The creature turned its attention to them; empty black orbs stared back at them, before it suddenly let off some kind of high pitched screech, one which caused the group of Cybertronians to duck back in surprise, doing their best to cover their audios from the sound.

The sound seemed to be a signal, as, frozen in surprise, the five Autobots watched as, seemingly out of the wood work, sprung a group of robbed figures, skirting across the ground, almost like lizards, scampering up to the bodies before pushing themselves upright, the vibrant colours of their concealing attires hiding everything, and a sudden cacophony of sounds erupted from the group as they sprung into action, grabbing the corpses, those which had been twisted in knots where quickly stuffed into body bags, those impaled and ensnared by plantlife where seemingly coaxed off, those working on the plant victims cooing and trilling, the plant life reacting by retracting, disappearing into the ground and leaving the bodies to flop to the ground, before quickly being stuffed into more body bags which seemed to of been stored in the sleeves of the robbed people.

Massive boulders and mangled cars were easily tossed aside by a single person, others making quick work of spraying down the area, erasing any sign of the conflict, from blood stains to oil, the bullets and their casings syphoned up by more of those rat creatures, which followed the robbed people like loyal pets, all whilst equally mechanical vulture like creatures descended from the sky, squawking and screeching as they began attacking the abandoned vehicles, stripping them in mere moments before shooting off behind buildings.

It took only a few minutes for everything to look like there'd never even been a fight.

The rats quickly disappeared under the people's robes, leaving the group of over twenty standing there, the body bags quickly being snatched up and carried off by the vultures.

There was a long awkward moment of silence before the one draped in a flurry of pale pastel colours stepped forwards and cleared their throat awkwardly, reaching up to brush their hood back.

A faint gasp left Arcee as the head of a woman was made visible to them, along with the warm smile she bore on pale lips.

"Why… hello! Didn't notice you there!" She declared, unnaturally large black orbs starring at them. "I'm Elimana, pleasure to meet you, I'm the leader of this scavenger group, we were sent here to clean up after our great guardians." She declared, practically jumping about in front of them, strange, rodent like ears bouncing on the sides of her head, the large sensory organs littered with holes held apart by rings of different coloured metal.

"Ma'am, the aids have finished transferring the collected materials, we're being called back." One of the others called, male this time.

Elimana huffed at him, barring large incisor teeth which wouldn't have looked out of place on a beaver. "I am fully aware… but when was the last time you got to meet _the Autobots!"_ She pressed, shooting the others an accusing look. "Ignore them, they're all shy… why are you all… oh! Damnit! Always forget to turn this off." She grumbled, pulling her robe off fully, revealing a figure more like a bipedal rodent than a human, draped in thin fabric, with the robe out of the way she fumbled with a large gold bangle wrapped around her upper arm.

The lack of robe also revealed the large hairless tail flicking behind her.

A couple forceful taps on a pearl like gem indented into the bangle caused a flash of light to erupt, before fading almost instantly to reveal the form of a seemingly perfectly normal human with wild blonde hair wrestled into a frizzy high pony tail decorated with endless nick knacks, beads and metal bands. "There we go! Now then, we must be off! Pleasure to see you for real for once! And not just your statues in the Capitals Gardens of heros! Alright you lot! Let's move out! Till all are one!"

"And all are reunited!" The rest of the group chorused back, before exploding into motion again, disappearing behind buildings and old abandoned vehicles, Elimana bolting off herself, throwing the robe back over herself just before she sprinted out of view.

The five Cybertronians just stood there dumbstruck.

 _"_ _Err guys? You ok? Why is no one requesting a ground bridge?"_ Raf then called over the group com-link.

 _"_ _Did you win the re-match Bulk! Tell me you left that jerk crying for his momma!"_

 _"_ _Optimus? Is there something wrong?"_

Optimus shook himself back to the present at the humans calls. "We are alright young ones… just… recovering from meeting a group of humans… one of which had the ability to… take on the attributes of a rodent… most likely a rat."

 _"_ _A giant rat lady?! That is awesome!"_

Arcee spoke up then. "They appeared out of nowhere, they cleaned up everything, called themselves Scavengers or something… said they were sent to clear up after the guardians… guess we know what the Robed ones are called now…"

 _"_ _Wait, Arcee, you mean there's more robed figures?"_ Jack called.

A look went between the group before Ratchet answered. "A _lot_ more."

* * *

 **The caverns aren't completely sealed off from the surface! Thought it would be a good idea to showcase that by showing off one of the voluntary functions people in the caverns can take if their employment only requires a few hours a week. Welp, hope you all enjoyed! Until next time!**

 **Moon**


End file.
